COMPARISON OF SHEARER SUMPING METHODS

Every mining shearer complex consists of three basic mechanical units: mining shearer, armoured face conveyor and roof supports. While the shearer loads coal onto face conveyor, which transports the coal to collecting pan conveyor, roof supports safe whole working area from falling pieces of stone from rock cover to the area. Before each mining running, it is necessary to cut-in first time to the wall by ranging drum of shearer. It is called shearer sumping. It is most important working activity of shearer in the longwall and influences or is influenced by some parameters of mining complex (advance, step of roof supports, mutual turn of adjacent face conveyor's plates in horizontal level, etc.). There exist practically two basic technology of working activity shearer running. They are Uni-directional and Bi-directional cutting system. The article describes both of these shearer sumping methods to the coal seam and evaluates their advantages and disadvantages. It is understood that each method is most suitable for the specific design of the longwall shearer.