Recently, a piece of exciting news came from Sichuan Chuanmei Huarong Energy Co., Ltd.’s Taiping Mine. The MG550/1455-WD coal cutter, developed by Shanghai Tiandi under the China Coal Science & Technology Shanghai Research Institute, has successfully assisted the mine in overcoming the challenges of intelligent mining in thick coal seams with a 66° steep incline and complex geological conditions. This marks another significant breakthrough in this technological field.

The Taiping Mine's 31131 mining face is located in the southern wing of the +700m level, Section 1 of the South 1st District. The average strike length is 1182 meters, with a maximum mining height of 4.5 meters. The coal seam’s dip angle reaches up to 66°, with a maximum interbedded rock thickness of 1.8 meters, and the interbedded rock is mudstone and sandstone. Mining at a 66° steep incline is akin to walking a tightrope on a cliff. After overcoming numerous challenges, the Taiping Mine successfully achieved smooth mining on the face, reaching 4 cuts per day with a progress of 3.2 meters per day.

The MG550/1455-WD coal cutter was successfully developed in 2013 and was first applied to the 45° steep incline thick coal seam face at Sichuan Chuanmei Huarong Energy’s Huashan Mine. In 2014, it was recognized by the China Coal Society as meeting international leading standards. In 2017, it won the first prize for technological achievements from China Coal Science & Technology Group and the third prize from the China Coal Industry Association for scientific and technological achievements.

The project focused on five main areas of innovation: lightweight design, high-power impact-resistant rocker arm, efficient walking system, high-reliability braking system, and intelligent features. These innovations have continuously been upgraded to achieve excellent performance, capable of handling mining faces with a maximum mining height of 5.3 meters and a maximum dip angle of 66°. The cutter has achieved successful results, including adapting to a maximum dip angle of 29° (with a maximum mining height of 4.2 meters) in Anhui Huaibei mining area and a 35° dip angle (with a maximum mining height of 5.3 meters) in Inner Mongolia’s Shanghai Miao mining area for bidirectional mining. To date, more than a hundred units of the 1455 series coal cutters have been successfully applied in major mining areas across China, yielding significant economic and social benefits.

Looking forward, China Coal Science & Technology Shanghai Research Institute will continue to increase its investment in research and development and technological innovation, driving China’s coal mining equipment towards smarter, safer, more efficient, and greener development.