Energy Consumption at Production Stages in Mining

Dear Colleagues,

The exploitation of mineral raw materials using the underground method is closely related to the construction of access, preparatory, and exploitation excavations, which must be equipped with special machines and devices adapted to specific geological and mining conditions. Mining work schedules are planned so that mine transport routes are as short as possible while minimizing energy consumption. For vertical or inclined workings, the type of equipment with skip devices or belt conveyors is particularly important, for which effective working time is planned. In turn, for preparatory and exploitation workings, especially in ore mining, a huge role is played by machines with combustion and electric drives, which are used, among other things, for work related to the drilling of blasting and bolting holes; loading, hauling and dumping of excavated material; and also for ripping roof rocks and transporting crew and materials. As the depth of exploitation increases, natural hazards increase. The increase in the primary temperature of a rock mass and the release of heat by operating machines require that not only an appropriate amount of air be supplied to the excavation, but also that the air is appropriately cooled. Moreover, the present groundwater requires that the workings be equipped with special pumps to discharge it to the surface. In the last production stage, excavated material must be prepared for the process of separating useful components from waste rocks in a processing plant. This is a very energy-consuming process that requires a detailed analysis of the machines and devices used. Individual stages of mining metallic, energy, chemical, or rock raw materials require determining energy consumption in both the short and long term while maintaining a balance between production costs and the safety of the works carried out.

In this Special Issue of Energies, we intend to focus on innovative laboratory, numerical, and industrial research that has a positive impact on the energy consumption at various production stages in mining. We hope that you will consider submitting your original manuscript to this Special Issue for peer review.

Prof. Dr. Krzysztof Skrzypkowski
Dr. Krzysztof Zagórski
Guest Editors

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• energy consumption
• machines with combustion and electric drives
• battery powered
• self-propelled mining machines
• underground mining methods
• driving of excavations
• horizontal, inclined, and vertical transport systems
• processing of mineral raw materials
• drainage system
• ventilation systems