Longwall Mining

Unit 3, Underground Coal Mining

4th Semester, Mining Engineering
Books for reference:
1. Surface and Underground Excavations –
Methods, Techniques and Equipment by Ratan
Raj Tatiya
2. Longwall Mining by Syed Peng and Chiang
3. Principles and practices of modern coal mining
by R.D. Singh

Taught by: Mr. Sunny Murmu

Basic underground mining methods

U/G Coal
mining
methods

Longwall Short wall

Bord & Pillar
Mining mining

Longwall
Advancing

Longwall
Retreating
Factors influencing the choice of U/G mining methods
1. Depth of the seam
2. Shape of the deposit
3. Thickness of the seam
4. Gradient of the seam
5. Strike of the seam
6. Mechanical properties of coal
7. Coal seam cleavage and dirt bands
8. Presence of geological disturbances
9. Characteristics of roof and floor
10. Gas content of the seam
11. Proneness to spontaneous combustion
12. Hydro geological conditions of the coal measures
13. Availability of machines for mechanization and development in technology
14. Economic value of coal
15. Availability of skilled workers
Applicability of longwall mining method
Longwall mining is an underground coal mining method that is applicable under certain conditions,
including:
• Suitable geology: Longwall mining requires coal seams of sufficient thickness and quality, with no
major geological faults or other obstructions.
• Depth: Longwall mining is typically used in deep mines, as the equipment required is too large for
shallower operations.
• Size of coal reserves: Longwall mining is most economically viable for coal reserves of sufficient size
to justify the investment in equipment and infrastructure.
• Equipment availability: Longwall mining requires specialized equipment, such as shearers and plows,
which may not be available in all regions.
• Dip of the seam: The longwall mining finds easy application in flat to gently inclined seams say up to 1
in 3. In steeper seams faces must be arranged at an angle to the true dip or on strike depending on
circumstances.
 Benefits of longwall mining method
❑ High productivity
❑ Enhanced safety
❑ High face mechanization

Vocabulary of longwall mining method

The face: A long front from which the coal is won.
Tail gate: The roadway usually used for the
supplies of material and return air. It is also
known as Supply Gate.
Main gate: The roadway used for transport of coal
out-bye and for the intake of air. It is also known
as Mother Gate.
Goaf line: The line at which roof is intended to
cave.
Span: The width of the workings from the goaf line
supports to the face.
Stable: A portion at the ends of a face specially
prepared to accommodate the machine to cut the
face.
Buttock: The portion of the face at its end from
where cutting starts.
Vocabulary of longwall mining method
Face conveyor: The conveyor installed on the face.
Stage loader: The conveyor which receives coal from the face conveyor for its transport out-bye.
Face supports: The supports used on the face.
Breaking row supports: The supports at the goaf edge.
Main components of longwall mining method

Longwall
mining
method

Cut coal Access

Coal Cutting Roof support
conveyance roadways

Shearer or Shield
AFC Main gate
coal ploughs support

Yielding Bridge stage

Tailgate
props loader

Belt
Roof bolts Cut throughs
conveyor

Barrier or
chain pillars
Basic Layout of a longwall panel
Basic Layout of a longwall panel
Definition and salient features of longwall mining
❑ The basic principle of longwall mining is to divide the coal seam into panels by driving 2-3 km long parallel tunnels
known as gate roads that are 200-300 m apart
❑ The extreme ends of the gate roads are linked by another tunnel that forms the face having a long wall like
structure that is reason the name “longwall”.
❑ The gates are the main service tunnels that transport workers and equipment to the face. The gate roads also serve
as a route for air ventilation to the face. The gate roads are referred to as the headgate and tailgate.
❑ The main coal block formed between the two gate roads is extracted along the length of the face by a shearer or a
coal cutting machine that moves cyclically from one end of the face to the other, i.e. from the headgate corner to
the tailgate corner and vice versa.
❑ The cut coal is transferred into an armoured chain conveyor by the elbows attached to the shearer (AFC) or by
natural gravity flow.
❑ The broken coal is transferred by the chain conveyor to the belt conveyor system via a bridge stage loader
installed at the head gate, which then transports it to the coal storage facility located outside the mine.
❑ Shields, which are hydraulically operated powered supports, protect the longwall face from roof falls or collapse.
❑ The barrier pillars located alongside the gate roads are its main supporting system, and they also serve as a
separation boundary between one panel and another.
❑ As the coal block is cut, the shields and shearer continue to advance. The void left by coal cutting is filled by the
collapsing or caving of the overlying roof behind the shields.
❑ The void area filled by a caved roof is referred to as goaf or gob.
Advantages of longwall mining
❑ High recovery (>80%)
❑ Low operating cost
❑ Easier to supervise
❑ Increased safe working environment
❑ Suitable for thick seams
❑ Simple ventilation layout
❑ Suitable for deep seated deposit
❑ Mass production technology
Disadvantages of longwall mining
❑ High capital investment
❑ Low flexibility
❑ Working limited to flat to gently dipping seam (1 in 3)
❑ Concentration of work leading to stoppage of production during any breakdown
❑ Not feasible for geologically disturbed seam
Basic Layout of a longwall panel
Shearer, AFC, Shield support
A single shield
Longwall working
Longwall Advancing
❑ In longwall advancing, the longwall face is set up a short distance from the main development headings.
❑ The gate entries of the longwall face are formed as the coal is mined.
❑ The gate roadways are thus formed adjacent to the goaf.
❑ Normally the gate roads are protected from the goaf by a line of packs, which are built to provide protection to the
gate roads and minimising excessive circulation of air between the gate entries through the goaf.
❑ Longwall advancing is generally adopted in thin seams in conjunction with packing or stowing.
Advantages:
❑ This method enables fully productive operations to be commenced with comparatively little development work
❑ It provides for the maximum degree of extraction from the seam.
❑ Subsidence is even over the working area and the rate and amount of subsidence can be regulated within limits by
the method and quality of stowing or packing.
❑ It enables concentration of men and, therefore, large output can be drawn from relatively small working areas.
❑ Ventilation is more efficient.
❑ Strata control is comparatively easy.
Longwall Advancing
Disadvantages:
❑ Much labour and material arc needed for supporting the working area both at the face and along the roadway.
❑ Too much stone work is required and often large quantities of filling materials have to be brought from the surface
which results in additional cost.
❑ The method does not involve proving of the area in advance of the main producing units, and thus when faults or
intrusions are encountered unexpectedly a serious loss of output may result.
❑ For some distance behind the working face the roadways are in moving ground and require costly maintenance
and hence increase in cost.
❑ As the roadways behind the face are in moving ground, the uninterrupted working of roadway belt conveyors is
more difficult to ensure and cost of maintaining them is more than in roadways driven in solid ground.
❑ When a longwall face has reached its boundary, the salvage of all the support materials and the removal of the
plant must be carried out very quickly if serious losses are to be avoided. This work necessitates the provision of a
large salvage staff working intermittently.
❑ Ventilation requires usage of large no. of stoppings. Chances of short circuit of intake, return or noxious gases.
Difficulty in maintenance.
❑ Stable has to be created multiple times in order to place some face machineries or equipment.
Longwall Retreating
❑ To get over the disadvantages of advancing system longwall retreating has been evolved. In this case the face
works on a wide front as in advancing method but it retreats on preformed gates in the solid.

Advantages:
❑ The gate roads are supported by solid coal at least on one side.
❑ The immediate area to be worked is pre-explored, and planning may be modified to deal with faults and intrusions
without serious loss in output.
❑ The necessity for the repair of roadways may be completely eliminated, resulting in considerable saving in
unproductive work and expenditure on support materials.
❑ The formation of the stable-holes necessary in longwall advancing is eliminated or the work greatly reduced, with a
consequent reduction in labour and short firing.
❑ The roadway conveyor suffers less loss of alignment and is more reliable.
❑ Good ventilation is established and assured before panel extraction commences.
❑ Development working is highly productive with low cost per tonne due to characteristics of the continuous miner,
where employed. Road drivages for development can be carried out with the most modern machines with highest
rate of advance.
Longwall Retreating
Disadvantages:
❑ Long narrow headings have to be driven to open out the face. Building up of production, therefore, takes
comparatively long time.
❑ In some seams it is economically impossible to drive a narrow heading in the seam on account of roof pressure,
floor heave and other causes. If the surrounding rocks and particularly the roof strata, are very soft, the
maintenance of roadways is very difficult and costly.
❑ The removal of methane remains one of the greatest obstacles to the general adoption of the retreating method.
❑ In retreating faces the optimum output is obtained when the goaf is caved. If stowing is necessary the output tends
to drop.
❑ No gate or roadway side packs required, so less supplies overall
Factors affecting the selection of optimum longwall face length
1. Nature of roof
❑ With good roof i.e. roof which is strong and caves regularly with face advance permits longer face. If, however, the
roof is not good, one should go for smaller lengths.
2. Seam thickness
❑ Thickness of the seam is proportionate to the production of coal. Therefore, for thick seam very large length of
face is not preferred.
3. Geological disturbances
❑ Presence of any fault may limit the length of the face.
4. Emission of fire damp
❑ Longer length of face renders larger exposure for fire damp emission. Therefore, highly gassy faces may require
shorter face length to keep the emission of fire damp within permissible limits.
5. Dust generation
❑ In case of mechanised longwall face duct generation is high, to keep the face environment dust free, short faces
are preferred .
6. Face infrastructure
❑ For longer face the capacity and the power demand for AFC also increases. Moreover, the amount of hydraulics to
be handled. The demand for power supply requirement is greater as the length of the face increases.
7. Working depth
❑ If for a shallow depth the length of the face is short than bridging of the strata may occur leading to violent roof
failures.
Double Unit Longwall Face
❑ In the double-unit face layout the central gate is used for the transport of coal from both the faces: a common
conveyor serves both the faces. For the supply of the material the respective gates at the flank of each face are used.
❑ In double unit longwall face, two longwall faces are extracted in tandem.
❑ The two faces have a common mother gate and separate tail gate.
❑ Each face is equipped with a separate set of face machineries.
❑ The gate conveyor installed in the main gate gather the coal from both the face and transports it outbye.
❑ The face are worked either in advancing or in retreating manner.
❑ One of the face is kept, about 10 to 15 m in advance of the other face.
❑ Fresh air is supplied to both the faces through centrally located main gate and polluted air exit directly to the main
return through separate tail gates

Where hydraulic sand stowing of the goaf is

done, the dip-side face leads the rise-side
face. This arrangement facilitates the
drainage of water from the rise-side goaf but
on caving faces, the rise-side face may lead
the dip-side face.
 Advantages of double unit longwall face

❑ The cost of transportation of coal is reduced.

❑ Loss of coal is reduced which otherwise would occur if coal is to be left between two faces.
❑ Unproductive time of shifting of machineries (salvaging) to a new face when the face is exhausted, is reduced and
thus productivity is improved.
❑ Development of gate road is reduced.
❑ Construction and maintenance cost of gate road is reduced if faces are worked by longwall advancing method.
❑ Each face has its independent set of face machineries, if production from a face comes to a halt due to some reason,
the production from the other face continue.
Disadvantages of double unit longwall face
❑ Applicable only when a long span of coal block is found free from geological disturbances.
❑ Common gate conveyor for transportation of coal outbye. If breakdown take place, the entire production from both the
faces come to an halt.
Variants of longwall mining
Longwall Top coal caving (LTCC)
 Longwall Top coal caving (LTCC)
❑ Longwall top coal caving (LTCC) is a special type of longwall mining applicable to very thick seams (greater than
4.5m) where good quality coal is being left because "conventional" longwall equipment has not yet been designed to
operate successfully beyond around 5m mining height.
❑ It enables an increased recovery for only an incremental additional cost.
❑ The method originated in Europe (Soutirage mining) but has been developed in China in more recent years and is used
there quite extensively and successfully.
❑ The lower section of the seam is cut by a conventional longwall set-up except that the longwall supports have a longer
rear canopy extending past the base into the goaf. The extended canopies have a sliding door fitted into them.
❑ An additional AFC is attached to the rear of the chocks and runs directly below the canopy openings.
❑ As the face moves forward, the coal left above the section cut by the machine falls onto the extended canopies,
providing the goaf is caving normally. The sliding doors in the canopies are sequentially opened, and the coal falls
through onto the rear mounted AFC. The maingate stage loader is extended beyond the face conveyor to enable the
rear mounted AFC to discharge coal directly onto it and carry coal to the maingate conveyor system.
❑ The sliding canopy doors are opened and closed in a controlled manner to ensure the conveyor is loaded efficiently
and to prevent stone being taken out when all the coal has been recovered from a particular section.
❑ Not all the coal would be recovered, but recoveries of 75-80% of the full seam in the block are achievable. The system
also allows the initial mining height to be reduced to a preferred working height without losing coal.
Longwall Top coal caving (LTCC)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flePGEGtIAQ
 Variants of longwall mining
Punch Longwall
❑ The aim of this method is to mine coal form the highwall of an open cut operation, in which the stripping ratio far
outweighs the production cost of coal mined.
❑ The method consists of driving a set of headings into the coal seam from the highwall of an open cut operation.
❑ The two headings are driven at a predetermined distance (say 300 m) and are then connected to form a panel.
❑ Longwall face equipment is subsequently installed across the panel.
❑ The coal is mined by retreating back toward the highwall until a short distance from the entry.
❑ This section of coal is left to act as a barrier pillar to protect the highwall.
❑ Punch longwall mining is carried out using single entry gateroads as the they are only used by one panel.
❑ The adjacent panels can be similarly extracted with fresh entries being driven adjacent to the previous mined out
panel leaving a barrier pillar of suitable width to provide safe retreating of the new panel.
❑ The extracted coal is transported out and piled at the ramp where it is transported by the most convenient method
used by the mine.
Punch Longwall