Planning for Reliable Coal Quality Delivery Considering Geological Variability: A Case Study in Polish Lignite Mining

Abstract

The aim of coal quality control in coal mines is to supply power plants daily with extracted raw material within certain coal quality constraints. On the example of a selected part of a lignite deposit, the problem of quality control for the run-of-mine lignite stream is discussed. The main goal is to understand potential fluctuations and deviations from production targets dependent on design options before an investment is done. A single quality parameter of the deposit is selected for this analysis - the calorific value of raw lignite. The approach requires an integrated analysis of deposit inherent variability, the extraction sequence, and the blending option during material transportation. Based on drill-hole data models capturing of spatial variability of the attribute of consideration are generated. An analysis based on two modelling approaches, Kriging and sequential Gaussian simulation, reveals advantages and disadvantages lead to conclusions about their suitability for the control of raw material quality. In a second step, based on a production schedule, the variability of the calorific value in the lignite stream has been analysed. In a third step the effect of different design options, multiple excavators and a blending bed, was investigated.