German industrial giant Siemens has been contracted to increase productivity and reduce downtime at a coal mine in China by connecting, analysing and optimising the performance of four mine hoist systems.
Siemens has won the deal from the YanZhou Coal Mine Company. It will collect data from the hoist systems, used to raise coal from the mine, at the YanZhou coalfield, in the Shandong province on China’s east coast.
Data will be transferred for remote processing, in the cloud, to enable the YanZhou Coal Mine Company to centrally monitor production, and act on real-time data. Siemens will also provide inter process communications, accessories, software engineering and site commissioning services.
Work starts in 2019, the pair said, and will focus initially on drawing data from four hoist systems at the DongTan coal mine, in the central eastern portion of YanZhou coalfield. The YanZhou Coal Mine Company intends to extend the concept to cover up to 20 mine hoists, at six different coal mines.
Siemens noted falling commodity prices and increasing trade tariffs, along with alternative energy sources, and rising safety and security risks, have increased strain on the coal mining industry. “To stay competitive, companies need to become more innovative. Digitisation plays a crucial role by offering new ways to maximise productivity,” it said in a statement.
Its cloud platform will be accessible by users on on remote devices, including PCs, smartphones and tablets, as well as on local PCs in the enterprise network. Siemens said engineers and managers will be able to monitor machine statuses and trace faults by historical trends, while managing routines and performance from anywhere.
The YanZhou Coal Mine Company is headquartered in Zoucheng, in Shandong. The company is principally engaged in underground coal mining, preparation and processing, sales, and railway transportation of coal.
