The pneumatic vertical conveying of coal by pipeline

CIM Bulletin, Vol. 75, No. 843, 1982

D.H. TWEEDY, Managing Director, Radmark Engineering (U.K.) Ltd., England

The paper describes the rapid development of, and operational experience in the utilization of, pneumatic low-pressure pipeline hoisting systems to vertically convey raw coal and rock through shafts, supplementing shaft capacity—the greatest lift to date being 535 m.A typical installation has raised over 250,000 tonnes in less than one year from a depth of 413 m through a 350/400-mm pipeline at a rate of 85 tonnes per hour. Operational experience on seven systems has provided valuable data on performance and operating costs.The main advantages of the systems lie in the flexibility of the pipeline to occupy existing free space in shafts and underground roadways, the relatively low first cost, the short delivery and installation time, and the economical running cost.Conclusions are therefore reached on future applications— for example, the use of boreholes in older mines where new production technology has outstripped shaft or slope capacity, inter-level hoisting to implement concentration on transport roads and perhaps full mine output from relatively small mines.

Keywords: Coal pipelining, Pipelines, Pneumatic conveying, Hoisting systems, Lyukobanya system.