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Scope for application of GPS in Indian Coal Industry
GPS reliability
Since GPS user equipment does not transmit, there is no limit to the
number of GPS receivers that can be used on the system. There are
no licensing fees for the receivers and no requirement to register
their ownership. There are no restrictions on the use of GPS for
positioning and the received data/information can be stored and re-transmitted,
if required.
Background on Coal Industry
Coal is the primary source of power generation in many countries
of the world, and is the most abundant, widely distributed, safe and
economical fossil fuel available to meet the escalating energy demand,
providing around 33% of global primary energy needs and generating
36% of world’s electricity at present. Coal continues to be the pre-dominant
energy source in India contributing to about 63% of its
total energy needs.
Coal mining in India commenced in 1774 and has come a
long way from a production level of 6.19 Mt. in 1900 to about 310
Mt. in 2000-01. Coal production increased rapidly after
nationalisation of coking coal mines in 1972 and non-coking coal
mines in 1973 undertaken to ensure coal conservation and scientific
development of coal resources in the country. Public sector coal
companies contribute 98% of India’s coal production, of which
Coal India Limited accounts for 88% and Singareni Collieries
Company Limited(SCCL) for 10%. Other companies like DVC,
IISCO, TISCO and captive mining firms make up the balance.
Predominance of surface mining in the Indian coal industry
with a share of over 80% and 54% respectively of total production
in Coal India Limited and SCCL, calls for insightful analysis of the
means and methods for upgrading the production and performance
of surface mining systems in the 21st century. Even if there are
surface mining systems of variegated sizes and sophistication, there
is no doubt whatsoever that surface mining systems from small scale
to medium scale and mega-sized mines, would call for significant
inputs of new technology to be cost effective, environmentally
friendly and meet the production requirements. In striving for new
levels of performance in the competitive environment of the 21st
century, technology will be the principal lever for change, where
information technology (IT) will play a key role.
Benchmarking of surface mining operations world-wide reveal
a yawning gap between the performance capability of the best of
the mines and the worst of the mines and there exists an imperative
need to bridge this gap. Since, the scale of operations in opencast
coal mines in India has grown by leaps and bounds, the conventional
methods of surveying, planning and operating the mines would have
to be upgraded to meet the requirements. A whole host of leading
edge technology products and systems for effective management of
surface mines have evolved in the past decade.
GPS Applications in Coal Industry
GPS entered the Mining Industry as a fast, and cost-effective
instrument for survey. A shifting landscape is the very nature of
mining operations; as shovels and dozers remove coal and ore, they
reshape the mine’s surface. Real-time GPS allows mining operations
to keep on top of these constant changes and provide updated
operating instructions to heavy equipment operators. In addition,
GPS systems provide a fast and accurate solution for replacing and
maintaining control points and calculating the volume of material
moved.
Moving mining assets, including dozers, shovels, graders and
draglines, are managed and guided using advanced GPS technology.
Advanced GPS systems also track and monitor the status and location
of dump trucks, providing reports to their heading and velocity as
well as the size of the truck’s load. Live GPS is becoming
commonplace for monitoring and dispatching haul trucks or drills
and for providing grade control on shovels. These data can also be
tied to a GIS to monitor the location of all equipment, in real time.
GPS being an all-weather real time, continuously available,
economic and very precise positioning technique , would have wide
range of applications in Indian coal industry. The potential areas
for usage of GPS in Indian coal industry includes –
Surveying
Several modern surveying techniques like Satellite Remote Sensing,
Photogrammetric, Field surveying procedures using digital
theodolites, short and long range EDM instruments like Total Station
etc., are available today. However, the advantages of using the
satellite based GPS techniques for surveying are:
- GPS measurements do not require inter-visibility between points whereas the conventional surveying tools require line of sight for measurements.
- GPS technique provides a three dimensional position for the point. That is in one go, we get the horizontal and vertical position of the point, unlike in conventional surveying where we need two operations viz., horizontal traverse for planimetric control and a level loop for height control.
- A very high accuracy measurement can be made in a relatively short time for baseline lengths of a few hundred meters to few hundred kilometers and can provide the same accuracy anywhere on earth, in almost any weather condition and at any time of the day.
GPS offers many advantages compared with conventional
survey methods. Because there is no need for a rod person, each
surveyor can work alone when necessary. GPS also requires much
less setup time than did traditional surveying equipment, so the crew
can use its time more efficiently. It can also keep a much more
flexible schedule and move from one area to the next or one pit to
another as needed.
Opencast Mine Operations
The entire opencast mine earthmoving process can be monitored
and enhanced by GPS equipped heavy earth mining machinery
(HEMM). Computerized mine operations management system would
include tracking of mining equipment, maintenance, monitoring
and diagnostic systems, transmission of loading instructions to
dumpers etc for better control.
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