Investigation on the current development status of overhead passenger devices in coal mines in China
Release date:2014-11-21
Views:4023
When it comes to overhead passenger devices in coal mines-"monkey cars",people in the coal industry are not unfamiliar with them.As one of the main means of transportation for miners to and from work,it is now widely used in many coal mines.However,in the context of increasing national attention to coal mine safety,the"monkey car",as one of the main transportation equipment in coal mines and related to the safety of miners commuting,has become a"forgotten corner"and has not received sufficient attention at the national level."The'monkey car'is the main tool used by miners,which is related to coal mine safety.However,the current market for'monkey cars'is uneven,with severe vicious competition.In addition,weak supervision at the national level has brought huge hidden dangers to the safe operation of'monkey cars'and the personal safety of miners."Xiao Gongping,Chairman of Xiangtan Hengxin Industrial Co.,Ltd.,a major manufacturer of'monkey cars'in China,interviewed a reporter from China Mining Daily,Deeply worried,he said.
The use of"monkey cars"is becoming increasingly widespread
The production and use of"monkey cars"in China has a long history.According to research,China is one of the earliest countries in the world to use overhead cableways.The first steel wire rope cableway used in coal mines was built in 1910 and successfully operated and used in the Fangshan coal mine in Beijing,opening the way for China's first overhead passenger device used in coal mines.
In 1966,the Zibo coal mine in Shandong Province installed China's first coal mine cableway,which was highly welcomed by miners.The cableway is considered by relevant experts to be the first simple and practical coal mine passenger device in China after the establishment of the People's Republic of China.Subsequently,many coal mines in Henan,Hebei,Hunan,Sichuan,and other regions installed such underground personnel transportation devices.
Due to the advantages of being safer and more practical,having greater transportation capacity,less power consumption(only 1/3 to 1/5 of the power consumption of human vehicle transportation),simpler equipment structure,and less maintenance workload compared to inclined shaft human vehicle transportation,the"monkey car"underground cableway transportation was quickly applied in coal mines across the country.In the 1970s,major coal producing provinces in China began using coal mine passenger devices,and this type of device was also developed in some large coal mines in the 1980s.
Since 2000,with the rapid development of the coal market,China's"monkey car"has also entered a golden period of development.
The period from 2000 to 2005 was the first development period of"monkey cars"in China,which was mainly the market recognition period of"monkey car"products,that is,entering the primary promotion stage of the market.
According to Xiao Pingping,the main focus at that time was to officially promote the"Monkey Car"as a coal mining machine product to coal mine users,making them aware of the existence of the"Monkey Car"product,which was a safer,more efficient,and cost-effective transportation equipment for auxiliary transportation.At that time,many coal mine users had never seen"monkey cars"and felt it was fresh and safer,so they began to install and use"monkey cars"as a benefit for miners.
It is understood that at that time,"monkey cars"were mainly used by large mining bureaus in China and local coal mines with relatively large production scales in the surrounding areas.The popularization rate of"monkey cars"in coal mines nationwide is about 20%,with a popularization rate of less than 30%for large mining bureaus and less than 10%for local coal mines.
During this period,in addition to Xiangtan Hengxin Industry and Changsha Zhengzhong Technology,the"Monkey Car"manufacturers also included four companies:Shijiazhuang Beck,Yueyang Sofitel,Changzhou Huazheng,and Yankuang Machinery Factory,with a market share of approximately 500 units.
The period from 2006 to 2010 was the second development period of"Monkey Car"and also the comprehensive promotion period of the"Monkey Car"product market.The main usage units of"monkey cars"have gradually extended from large mining bureaus to local coal mines.In some places,even non coal mines have started using"monkey cars".During this period,many local governments and large mining groups made the use of"monkey cars"a necessary condition for building standardized or modern mines,gradually phasing out inclined shaft human cars and switching to"monkey cars",which sparked a wave of"monkey cars"in coal mines across the country.Over the past five years,the number of manufacturers of"monkey cars"in China has continued to increase,reaching over 20.However,the industry's technology and market are mainly led by established manufacturers such as Xiangtan Hengxin Industry,Changsha Zhengzhong Technology,and Shijiazhuang Coal Machinery Factory.By 2010,the total market volume of"monkey cars"in China had reached about 500 million yuan,and the total number of"monkey cars"had also reached about 3000.About 300000 miners in mines across the country ride"monkey cars"to and from mines every day.
After 2011,China's"Monkey Car"entered its third development period.The country began to pay high attention to"Monkey Car"products and held special meetings.At the same time,the original safety sign certificate of"Monkey Car"was discontinued,and manufacturers were required to re-examine and obtain certificates in accordance with new regulations.
During this period,the number of"monkey car"manufacturers in China continued to increase.So far,there are more than 30 manufacturers of"monkey cars"in China,but three leading companies in technology and market are still Xiangtan Hengxin Industry,Changsha Zhengzhong Technology,and Shijiazhuang Coal Machinery Factory,with a market share of 70%.The rest are secondary products of small manufacturers or newly certified large coal machinery factories.
It is worth mentioning that through the development of the above three stages,China's"monkey car"has greatly improved its technological innovation ability and safety performance,and has achieved a successful leap and magnificent transformation from a"mechanical monkey car"to a"hydraulic monkey car".
Xiangtan Hengxin Industrial Co.,Ltd.is the pioneer of"hydraulic monkey cars"in China.After the successful operation of their self-developed"Hydraulic Monkey Car"with independent intellectual property rights in 2008,they successfully completed the upgrade process from"Made in China"to"Created in China".The"hydraulic monkey car"produced by it not only has completely better performance than foreign products,but also has applied for international and domestic invention patents.So far,there has been no imported hydraulic monkey car in China.
"The hydraulic driven'monkey car'is a product with a high level of automation and intelligent control.Its significant advantage is that after parking,the driving device is completely self-locking,that is,under external force,the driving wheels are completely locked and cannot rotate.This can effectively prevent the occurrence of slipping and speeding of the'monkey car'system after parking,greatly improving safety performance,"Xiao Pingping further explained,The power source of the"hydraulic monkey car"adopts full hydraulic drive,and the transportation system can achieve equal acceleration start,equal deceleration stop,and no-load start of the electric motor whether it is at high or low speeds.Moreover,the drive components are arranged separately from the pump station,and the high power density characteristics of hydraulic drive also make the power components of the equipment small in volume,light in weight,occupying small space,and very suitable for the layout,installation,and maintenance of small section tunnels and inconvenient lifting and transportation situations in coal mines.
At the same time,with the gradual development and growth of the"monkey car"industry,its application fields are also constantly expanding and expanding,and it has begun to be successfully used in non coal mines.
"Due to the fact that coal mines belong to a special high-risk industry,the requirements for equipment,including'monkey cars',are very strict and the standards are relatively high.However,the underground conditions of non coal mines are much better than those of coal mines,so it is quite easy to promote the application of'monkey cars',which were originally mainly used in coal mines,to non coal mines.In the future period,the popularity of'monkey car'products in non coal mines will definitely increase significantly!"Xiao Pingping said.
The existing problems cannot be ignored
"Monkey cars"have been in the market since 2000 and have been widely used in some coal mines nationwide for nearly 15 years.However,it is intriguing that the transportation equipment for coal mines,which is related to the safety of miners,has always lacked national unified industry standards and strict and effective regulatory measures,resulting in the prominent problem of"monkey cars",It seriously affects the healthy development of the"monkey car"industry and the safety of miners.In fact,as early as the development period of"monkey cars"from 2000 to 2005,due to the lagging national standards and the lack of necessary industry supervision,the safety hazards of"monkey cars"produced during this period were quite prominent."During this period,the'Monkey Car'was not regulated by national professional regulatory agencies,nor did it have mandatory certification requirements,nor did it even enter the national product catalog,"said an industry insider,"At this time,the national standards for the'monkey car'products could not keep up,and some did not even have national or industry standards,nor did they require industry supervision and third-party technical inspections,nor did they implement mandatory certification requirements.Therefore,the product quality was poor and the safety performance was low,making it one of the'monkey cars'currently in operation with significant safety hazards."
Since 2006,with the increase of manufacturers of"monkey cars"and the widespread use of"monkey car"products in coal mines,relevant national departments have begun to implement mandatory certification of"monkey car"safety signs,and have successively introduced some industry and national standards.At the same time,local governments have also increased supervision,resulting in a significant improvement in the quality and safety performance of"monkey cars".
However,due to the lack of experience in the management of"monkey car"products by regulatory authorities within the industry,as well as multiple national and industry standards,most of which are drafted by manufacturers.Due to limitations in their own technical and equipment capabilities,manufacturers have varying levels of standard development,resulting in lower technical and safety requirements in the standards,This has caused a situation where national and industry standards cannot be applied or fall behind product safety requirements.In addition,as a device for transporting people,the design,manufacturing,and installation threshold set by the country for"monkey cars"is relatively low.After mandatory certification,there are too many manufacturers,the product standards are low,and the market capacity is small,causing vicious competition in the market.This also poses huge risks to the safe operation of"monkey cars"and the personal safety of miners.At the same time,it also poses obstacles to the scientific development of"monkey cars"and affects the healthy development of the"monkey car"industry.As an enterprise that has been engaged in the design,manufacturing,and service of"monkey cars"for more than 10 years,Hengxin Industrial Co.,Ltd.can be regarded as the"leading leader"of"monkey car"manufacturers in China.In the research and development of"monkey car"products,Hengxin Industrial Co.,Ltd.has accumulated many scientific and technological achievements and experience,and has established the Hunan Province Mining Underground Passenger Equipment Engineering Technology Research Center.At present,the company has thousands of"monkey cars"in operation in domestic mines,and the products have been exported to Southeast Asian countries.However,the company still has concerns about the quality and safety performance of the current"monkey car".They pointed out in their"Reflections and Suggestions on the Safety of Coal Mine Aerial Passenger Devices"that"national and industry standards are relatively chaotic,leading to obstacles in the understanding and implementation of standards by users and manufacturers,and even more safety hazards."
Strict standards and strengthened supervision
With the increasing popularity of"monkey cars"in mines,relevant national departments have begun to pay attention to their safety performance issues.On January 7,2011,the Office of National Safety Signs held a special meeting in Beijing,and subsequently issued a notice on the release of the"Management Requirements for Safety Signs of Aerial Passenger Devices Used in Coal Mines"and the attachment"Management Requirements for Safety Signs of Aerial Passenger Devices Used in Coal Mines(Trial)",and re examined and obtained safety sign certificates in accordance with the new regulations.
In February 2013,the Office of National Security Signs held a special meeting in Changsha.The meeting unanimously agreed that the technological level of"monkey cars"at that time was very low.It was necessary to raise the threshold for"monkey cars",eliminate manufacturers with outdated production capacity,standardize and improve national or industry standards for"monkey cars",and promote new technologies and products for"hydraulic monkey cars".At this meeting,the attending leaders emphasized in their speeches,"Now is the time to take the safety of'monkey cars'seriously!"The reason why relevant national departments and important manufacturers of'monkey cars'attach so much importance to the safety performance of'monkey cars'is mainly due to the large number of'monkey cars'currently in operation and the involvement of many miners.According to rough statistics,the current market share of"monkey cars"in operation is as high as 4000 to 5000 units.Approximately 400000 to 500000 miners ride"monkey cars"every day at the same time,which is equivalent to more than 300 trains running on the ground.Xiao Gongping said with concern:"Due to the fact that these'monkey cars'are special equipment for transporting people,their operational safety and regulatory urgency are no less important than that of ground level car traffic.Their safe operation is not only related to the safety of coal mines,but also to the social issues of ensuring the lives of miners and building a harmonious society.Therefore,the safety importance of'monkey cars'is self-evident and should be incorporated into highly centralized management at the national level as soon as possible.",Industry insiders and important manufacturers of"monkey cars"have also been calling for strengthening the national standard construction and industry supervision of"monkey cars".They suggest that the"monkey car"standard should be led by research institutes,with industry manufacturers participating in the development of industry or national standards,rather than manufacturers leading the development of standards;The design of"monkey cars"should be undertaken by professional units with design qualifications,and cannot be designed by manufacturing units;The installation of"monkey cars"should be carried out by professional units with installation qualifications.The first inspection of installation should be carried out by the local inspection center,and the"whole machine qualification certificate"and the"monkey car operation certificate"of the"monkey car"operation management personnel should be issued by the national qualified inspection unit.The annual inspection system must be implemented by units with inspection qualifications."The country should establish a demonstration and inspection base for'monkey cars'as a training base to strengthen the design,manufacturing,and inspection units,and further improve the industry access conditions for the design and manufacturing of'monkey cars'."As an authoritative expert in the'monkey car'industry,Xiao Gongping suggested.
Coal mine production prioritizes safety.For the coal industry,safety is an eternal theme and a high-voltage line that cannot be touched at any time.It is precisely because of this that the country has strict safety supervision over coal mines.In recent years,from the development of intrinsically safe mines,to the construction of the"six major systems"of coal mines(mining system,excavation system,electromechanical system,transportation system,ventilation system,and drainage system),and then to the establishment of the"six major systems"of underground safety avoidance(monitoring and control,personnel positioning,emergency avoidance,self rescue of compressed air,water supply and rescue,and communication communication),China's coal mine safety system and mechanism as well as regulatory network,It can be said that it has gradually improved.However,as an important equipment for transporting people in coal mines and a special device in underground equipment that can instantly and directly harm people,"monkey cars"have not received enough attention at the national level to this day.It cannot be said that it is a great regret,nor can it be justified by just using the word"negligence".It can be foreseen that in the current severe situation of the sluggish coal market,China's"monkey cars"will inevitably enter a new era of upgrading the development of"monkey cars"to eliminate outdated technologies,promote new technologies and products,improve safety performance,and ensure the safety of miners.We must ensure that"monkey cars"are foolproof,ensure the safety of miners,and make China's"monkey cars"catch up with the world's advanced level,At the national level,while increasing the supervision of"monkey cars",relevant regulatory agencies,research institutes,manufacturing units,and user enterprises must also work closely together,shoulder their respective responsibilities,and jointly maintain and develop the"monkey car"industry!
