MIN329 PRESENTATION

SANDRESS LUHANGA, 201305526

DUNCAN PHIRI, 201305534
RAPHAEL MUSHANI, 201305529
BUCKET WHEEL EXCAVATOR
THE BUCKET WHEEL EXCAVATOR
(GERMAN BUILT BAGGER 293)
DESCRIPTION OF THE MACHINE

• The bucket wheel excavator is a multibucket

surface excavator.
• Has a number of buckets mounted on a bucket
wheel, which sits at the end of a long boom.
• Has a conveyor system installed within the
machine.
SIMPLIFIED ILLUSTRATION OF THE BUCKET
WHEEL EXCAVATOR
APPLICATION OF THE MACHINE
• This is a surface excavator which operates in open
pits.
• Is used in large scale operations where large
amounts of ore is to be mined.
• Is generally used where the ore being mined is
contained within a soft rock type such as a coal
mine.
UNIQUE FEATURES THAT MAKE IT SUITABLE
FOR ITS APPLICATION
• Large rotating bucket wheel.
• Has a conveyor system.
• Arrangement of the body with the caterpillar tracks,
allows the body to turn round its vertical axis.
• Boom is designed to be able to tilt up and down
CUTTING TOOLS
• The bucket wheel excavator uses sharp drag bits
mounted onto the many buckets of the bucket
wheel
• Applies a force that is approximately parallel to the
rock surface.
• Cracks are formed when the drag bit comes into
contact with the rock.
THE CUTTING HEAD
• A large rotating wheel onto which a series of bucket
is secured
• Each of the 18 buckets has relatively sharp edges
or tooth like structures, giving it the ability to dig into
and scoop the solid earth as the bucket rotates
ILLUSTRATED BELOW
BREAKING CYCLE OF THE MACHINE
• Due to the continuous rotation of the cutting wheel,
it cuts or digs on a full cycle.
• It does this due to the way in which the buckets are
arranged, scooping material one bucket after
another.
MAIN ADVANTAGES
• Is a continuous miner.
• Requires relatively little manpower to operate, e.g
the bagger 293 is operated by 5 workers.
• It is made of durable components, giving it a
reasonably long lifespan.
• Is able to dig at any level as the cutting boom can
be lowered or raised with the help of cables
MAIN DISADVANTAGES
• The machine produces a lot of dust so water has to
be used to suppress the dust at the digging site
• It is a relatively big machine so moving it to the site
or assembling the parts on site takes a long time.
• It is an energy intensive machine, requiring a lot of
electrical energy to operate
• Requires a substantial amount of capital to acquire
in order to start running the machine.
TUNNEL BORING MACHINE
TUNNEL BORING MACHINE
(THE MOLE)
THE TUNNEL BORING MACHINE

• It consist of one or two shields which can be to about

15 meters with a rotary head in front.
• The rotary head has cutting tools, usually disk cutters
which breaks the rock by indentation.
• To achieve indentation there is need for more thrust
which is provided by cylindrical hydraulics .
• The TBM is held in position by grippers which also help
counteract the thrust
APPLICATION OF A TUNNEL BORING MACHINE

• Civil construction
• Railway lines
• Gas and fuel transportation
• Mine operations
• Underground mine shafts
• Ore excavation
COMPONENTS

• Rotary head
• Thrust cylinders
• The gripper pads
• Drive motor
• Muck conveyor
• Support mechanism
• And the trailing gear
CUTTING TOOLS
• The most common type of cutting tool used is the disk
cutter

• Other kinds are the

Kerf cutter and the pineapple cutter
THE CUTTING HEAD
• Mainly consist of disk cutters
• In some cases they have water nozzles for dust
suppression
• They have a mechanism like muck chutes for taking
the broken material from the face and conveying it to
the TBM conveyor
THE CUTTING OR BREAKING CYCLE

• Indentation by the disk cutters such that a there is a high

thrust requirement
• The thrust is provided by hydraulic rams which either press
on the walls of the tunnel as grippers or the just
constructed concrete tunnel liner to counteract the thrust.
• After the rock is broken it falls to the floor where it is
scooped to the gages which are around the cutting head
• Then the muck goes via muck chutes to the TBM conveyor
ADVANTAGES OF A TUNNEL BORING
MACHINE
 Smooth and well configured walls
 Reduced labour costs
 Reduced ground disturbance hence reduced
support requirements
 High advance rate as compared to other methods
 Performs auxiliary tasks and operates virtually
continuous
 It is safer
DISADVANTAGES OF TUNNEL BORING MACHINE

High capital and running costs

Abnormal make of water or gas affects adversely
affects the operation
Inflexible and restricted mobility
SHEARER
BRIEF DESCRIPTION AND APPLICATION OF THE
SHEARER
 BRIEF DESCRIPTION AND APPLICATION CONT’D
• This is machine that weighs 75–120 tonnes.
• It comprises a main body, housing the electrical functions,
the tractive motive units to move the shearer along the
coalface
• At either end of the main body are fitted the ranging arms
which can be ranged vertically up down by means of
hydraulic rams/ cylinders.
• At the end of each ranging arms are mounted the cutting
drums/ head.
 BRIEF DESCRIPTION AND APPLICATION CONT’D
• The shearer is used in the longwall which is a kind of
underground coal mining.
FEATURES OF THE SHEARER
• Ranging arm; This feature of the shearer allows the
cutting of coal from coal seams which are thicker than the
drum diameter.
• Cutting drum: this serves for the extracting the bed
mineral out of the solid face and for loading it to the
conveyor.
• Cowls; The function of the cowls is to improve in cleaning
up the coal face, not only that but also, to assist with dust
suppression.
FEATURES CONTINUED…
• Haulage system; aids in the driving the shearer along
the face and tranport coal to conveyor belts.
• Bretyby cable handler; this serves to supply it
(shearer ) with power
• Shearer controls/Remote control; this helps in
making it possible for the shearer to be controlled from
a safe working position at a distance by using a remote
control unit.
CUTTING TOOLS EMPLOYED
• The shears employs the use of drag bits to chip
away the solid earth.
• The shearer uses a rotating drum mechanism, the
drum uses picks that are attached to it, these chip
away the rock that is almost parallel to the motion of
the picks.
DESCRIPTION OF THE CUTTING HEAD
• The cutting heads of the shearer are not continuous
cylinders instead they have a small central section
diameter with vanes or scrolls from there to the full
diameter.
• Then the picks are attached to the outer edges of the
scroll or vane.
• The drums featured on shearers consist of the
conventional pick-flushing drum that sprays water
through spray jets mounted on top of the cutter drum
vanes.
 THE CUTTING /BREAKING CYCLE OF THE
MACHINE
• The shearer cutting head rotates and the picks cuts a
slice of coal from the coalface on each pass.
• Then the sliced coal is directed to the armoured face
conveyor , then to the conveyor belt system.
A CROSS SECTION OF A TYPICAL LONGWALL
FACE
 ADVANTAGES

• The shearer is able to work on steep gradients

• Can work in thick seams of up to 5m thick.
• It is an electric, hydraulic machine as such there is no
emissions of greenhouse gases.
• It does not require much man power to be operated or
controlled as it can be operated from a distance with a
remote control unit.
DISADVANTAGES

• Requires expertise to operate it

• It is relatively expensive to maintain and has high
capital cost