A Study on the Optimized Working Schedule of the Fully Mechanized Coal Mining

The double drum shearer is one of the major parts of the fully mechanized coal mining and plays a decisive role in improving the energy utilization efficiency in the production process of coal mining. The optimal control of shearer has become a research focus to decrease the energy consumption of coal mining effectively. In this paper, based on the analysis of the cutting and traction forces on shearer in the coal mining process, a mathematical model of energy consumption for optimal control of the drum shearer in unidirectional mining is proposed. Furthermore, the effects of shearer's traction speed and drum rotational velocity on energy consumption and coal mining output are explored based on the proposed model. Finally, a simulation example was provided, and the comparison results of optimal energy consumption and coal mining output illustrated that the proposed model and optimal control of shearer are feasible and effective to reduce the energy consumption.