Optimization of parameters of shovel-truck systems at open-pit coal mines

Abstract

owerful shovel-truck systems (STSs) are widely used to perform overburden operations in open-pit mines. One of the main STS problems is the low level of its operation quality. The desire to increase the unit capacity of mining trucks and shovels, which is characteristic of the current stage of open-pit STS development, is not accompanied, however, by a corresponding increase in its productivity and utilization rates. This only leads to a quantitative growth of shovel and truck fleets without a significant improvement in the quality of their work. This is mainly due to insufficient consideration of the impact of the joint operation of shovels and trucks on the STS efficiency. The traditional approach to improving open-pit STSs by increasing the unit capacity of machines, as well as empiricism in the STS design, will not give serious qualitative changes in the future. In this regard, the purpose of the study is to substantiate and determine the optimal parameters of the STS at open-pit coal mines using the example of the Kuzbassrazrezugol Coal Company. The study used scientific generalization, methods of integral quality assessment, optimization modeling and linear programming, methods of statistical data processing, analysis and synthesis. As a result, a new approach has been developed to optimize the STS parameters and to form the optimal fleets of loading and transport equipment, as well as a mechanism for objective evaluation of decisions made during the designing and improving the STS, and a set of methods for its implementation. The developed optimization apparatus makes it possible to expand the functional and operational capabilities not only of the STS, but also of complexes for other technological purposes.