Ways of increasing excavator fleet productivity in Russian coal open pits (Kuzbass case study)

Abstract

A steady increase in coal extraction in Russian Federation and worldwide results from objective causes of natural resources availability and development of advanced coal processing technologies. In the context of the long-standing economic crisis, considerable investments in coal in-dustry are not to be expected. Consequently, the reserve for extraction growth lies in increasing productivity of the key equipment applied in Kuzbass coal pits. The production data analysis revealed that the presented excavators working capacity does not depend on the bucket volume and the cycle time. It is hereby specified that working capacity is primarily de-pendent on the actual operation cycle time. As it is demonstrated, the key reserve for increasing the working capacity consists in elevating efficiency of actual performance time use.