Shendong Coal Group is China's first coal production base with a capacity of two billion tons. Comprising 13 main mines, it forms the cornerstone of Shendong's energy production. These mines collaborate in production, ensure safety, and contribute to the industrial value of "one ton of coal from Shendong for every 20 tons nationwide," making it a crucial support force for national energy security.
Since its establishment, Shendong has never ceased exploring advanced production models. From manual coal extraction to mechanized operations and then to automated control, the deep mines have now undergone a revolution with the introduction of intelligent remote operations.
Maintenance workers from the integrated coal mining team at Daoliuta Coal Mine replacing the cutting teeth on a coal shearer drum.
In the framework of the "cloud," Shendong has digitized coal mining experience, constructing the "smart brain" and achieving production monitoring and coordinated control for 13 mines and 11 coal preparation plants. 5G networks cover 29 fully mechanized working faces and 56 continuous mining working faces. The platform integrates 90 algorithm services, 425 functional modules, and 68 data analysis systems. Through PC and mobile terminals, the platform handles approximately 22 million data accesses daily, providing 62 all-weather decision-making services. This comprehensive enhancement of Shendong's production capabilities firmly places the energy supply in the hands of the Chinese people.
Big Data: The Starting Point of a New Track
Intelligence is the direction of mining construction, and undoubtedly, big data is at the forefront. Shendong continuously creates surprises by collecting and analyzing data to unearth its value.
A dispatcher at the production scheduling center of Shanwan Coal Mine closely monitoring the operation status of underground equipment.
In Shendong, mining data starts at the level of 10 trillion. With 1.1 million points distributed in the mining group and more than 30 data transmission protocols, Shendong has accumulated a "massive" data foundation, creating conditions for various application scenarios.
In the deployment of intelligent remote control system applications in mines, big data helps connect and coordinate underground equipment. Through underground 5G base stations and sensor networks, big data assists the operating system in remotely managing operations. It simultaneously integrates underground auxiliary production systems such as production management, robots, videos, communications, fault diagnosis, protective actions, and unmanned driving. This showcases the new achievement of Shendong's "ecological collaboration," fundamentally ensuring the safety of miners and significantly improving safety benefits.
In the forefront of artificial intelligence, Shendong is accelerating its efforts. At the 2023 electromechanical work conference, He Haitao, a member of the Shendong Party Committee and Deputy General Manager, emphasized the key deployment of AI artificial intelligence: "This year, we need to accelerate the research and development of AI artificial intelligence technology, thoroughly explore the value of big data, and expedite the construction of industrial internet."
On the new track, Shendong has applied 34 types of 229 robots. Among them, 136 robots from 20 categories perform auxiliary tasks, replacing heavy physical work such as coal mining, slotting, pipe grabbing, drilling, and jetting. Additionally, 93 robots from 14 categories perform inspection and rescue tasks in scenarios such as substations, pump rooms, and main transport tunnels.
Welcoming new technologies, models, applications, and business formats, Shendong people are determined to stride toward the world-class demonstration mine in the blueprint of intelligent construction. Insight into the future, success does not necessarily belong to us. Generation after generation of Shendong people are actively making efforts, adhering to the direction of intelligent development, insisting on independence, letting innovation practices illuminate the lighthouse of exploration, and seeing a promising future for "coal" in the deep layers of the earth.
