With the ongoing power crisis throughout south-east Queensland during the last few days activities in places like Tarong, Stanwell, Gladstone and Swanbank where the power stations are located have attracted great media interest.

While everyone's focus is on the ongoing work at the Tarong Power Station, another activity at Tarong that is as important is the progress being made on a technological development that promises to save the Australian coal industry at least $20 million a year.

Dr Hal Gurgenci, Deputy CEO of the Cooperative Research Centre for Mining Technology & Equipment (CMTE) said that the CMTE research team headed by CSIRO researchers has successfully demonstrated a world first - the computer control of a dragline at an open pit coal mine near Brisbane.

A dragline, considered as one of the world's biggest robots that can cost up to $100 million each is basically a 100-m tall walking crane used in surface coal mining. Draglines scoop up overburden blasted by explosives, and typically swing it around in a 90 degree arc before dumping it and returning to the original position. The swing cycle of the dragline accounts for about 80 percent of time taken. This cycle is typically repeated once per minute, 24 hours per day every day of the year. The bucket which weighs around 40 tonnes when empty and up to 120 tonnes when full, acts as a large pendulum and requires operator skill to control well.

For the past three years, CMTE has been working in automating the swing cycle to improve efficiency. The team is headed by Dr Graeme Winstanley of CSIRO Manufacturing Science & Technology (CMST). According to Dr Winstanley, "Reduction in the cost of overburden removal is a key component in improving the economic performance of open cut coal mines. The swing cycle is the repetitive part of a dragline's excavation cycle during which the dragline swings from its dig site to a dump site and then returns back to its dig site. As the swing cycle comprises 80% of the draglines overall cycle time, automating the swing component of the dragline excavation cycle allows the operators to concentrate on the most intensive part of the cycle which is filling the bucket."

According to Dr Winstanley, in the first system integration conducted a few days ago the team demonstrated the following: computer control of the dragline's hoist, drag and swing motion separately, coordinated computer control of the dragline's hoist, drag and swing motions of the type typically performed by highly trained dragline operators and placing the 40 tonne bucket gently on the ground at the end of the cycle ready for the operator to fill it.

What these results clearly demonstrated was the successful computer control of a Bucyrus Erie 1370 dragline at Tarong Coal's Meandu Mine.

Dr Winstanley said that, "One percent reduction in the swing time of a dragline through automation translates into savings in the order of $20M pa for the Australian dragline fleet. It is not possible to quantify other potential benefits at this time. We see the current automation project as the first in a series that will help to improve the efficiency of dragline operation."

The automation of the dragline is just one of a number of research projects the Centre is undertaking to improve safety and productivity in mining. CMTE which is headquartered at the Queensland Centre for Advanced Technologies in Pinjarra Hills, Brisbane, is one of 67 Cooperative Research Centres across Australia set up to boost the competitiveness of Australian industry by strengthening collaborative research links between industry, research organisations, educational institutions and relevant government agencies. The program also targets public research priorities such as environmental issues.

The Federal Government contributes some $145 million a year to the Program. This investment is supported by CRC partners through direct funding and in-kind support. To date, CRC industry partners alone have committed some $640 million to CRC research projects.

CMTE's work in automating the dragline swing cycle is funded by a consortium consisting of: Australian Coal Association Research Program (ACARP), Rio Tinto, BHP Australia Coal Pty Ltd, CSIRO and CMTE. Valuable support has been provided by Bucyrus (Australia), Tritronics Pty Ltd and the staff of Meandu mine.

For further information:

Dr Hal Gurgenci, CMTE Deputy CEO
tel: (07) 3365 3607 Fax: (07) 3365 4799

Lena Mete
CMTE Communications Officer
Tel: (07) 3212 4428, Fax: (07) 3212 4412
Web: http://www.cmte.org.au