Numerical Simulation of Shearer Operation in a Longwall District

This paper presents a relatively simple method to analyze potential methane hazard and preventive methods based on a computer simulation of the airflow and methane emission on the longwall face and in the goaf. The presented approach considers the operation of a longwall shearer and conveyers and their possible impacts on both direct emissions of methane and migration from adjacent goafs. In this work, an attempt was made to control the advance speed of the virtual mining system based on sample mining data in the longwall 841A area and the abandoned longwall 841B at the Bielszowice Hard Coal Mine. The objective of this study was to verify the suitability of the adopted control algorithm. The results obtained from computer simulations of the mining operation with the developed control algorithm are presented in graphics of methane concentration, shearer advance speed and the speed control system parameters.

Modeling of Vanished Historic Mining Landscape Features as a Part of Digital Cultural Heritage and Possibilities of Its Use in Mining Tourism (Case Study: Gelnica Town, Slovakia)

The study provides a methodology for 3D model processing of historic mining landscape, and its features as mining digital cultural heritage with the possibility of using new visualization means in mining tourism. Historic mining landscapes around the towns of Gelnica (eastern Slovakia) had been chosen for the case study. The underground mining spaces around Gelnica, which are currently inaccessible to clients of mining tourism, were processed using 3D modeling. Historically, correctly processed 3D models of mining spaces enable customers of mining tourism to virtually travel not only in space, but what is most important, in time as well. The up-to-date computer-generated virtual mining heritage in the form of 3D models can be viewed via the Internet from different perspectives and angles. The models created this way are currently the latest trend in developing mining tourism.