ONLINE CONTROL STRATEGIES TO MINIMIZE PEAK LOADS ON MINE CONVEYOR NETWORKS USING SURGE UNITS WITH VARIABLE DISCHARGING CAPABILITY

Control of peak loads on gathering belts in mine conveyor systems can result in substantial reductions in power consumption as well as savin gs in capital and maintenance costs for the conveyor equipment. This p aper first extends an existing control approach involving dynamic adju stment of feeder discharge rates to the case where the differences in transit times between section feeders and the gathering belts where th e hows converge are small, It is shown that multiple units should be c onsidered simultaneously when determining control actions! and a dynam ic programming approach is given for determining the optimal control p olicy in such a situation, Subsequently, the application of this appro ach is considered for longwall mines where how from the longwall is no t controlled, but the discharge rates of continuous miner section feed ers are adjusted in real time to prevent belt overloading while minimi zing any production constraint on the continuous miner units, This app lication requires special treatment for the highly variable material h ow pattern produced by longwalls. The practical utility of these appro aches is evaluated through detailed simulation studies. These studies are used to estimate the magnitude of savings in energy, capital, and maintenance costs.