To extract coal SCCL embraces latest technology

 Telangana | Written by : Suryaa Desk Updated: Fri, Feb 23, 2018, 11:19 AM

Mancherial: The Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) is using modern technology imported from Australia and Germany countries to exploit coal reserves in a cost-effective and safe manner, for the first time in the country. It is taking assistance from scientists of National Institute of Rock Mechanics, Bengaluru.

Dr DS Subramanyam, scientist and the head of Geotechnical Engineering Department of the NIRM, told Telangana Today that the foreign technology was being used for quarrying coal in Srirampur and Mandamarri Areas of the coal giant by drilling the earth 600m deep, for the first time in India. The 20-day-long study, organised on behalf of the Coal India Limited, a Union government’s coal producing company, culminated on Thursday, he stated.

The scientist said the technology was applied for computing direction, condition and orientation of coal reserves with the help of a method ‘stress measurement’. The information gathered through apparatus of the equipment would later be analysed through special software. A report will be submitted to CIL and copies of the same would be shared with the SCCL, too.

“Suggestions, guidelines and useful insights, mentioned in the report, can be followed when quarrying the coal. The direction of pressure, orientation and gauge of the coal reserve is calculated with the help of the sophisticated technology, which costs Rs 2 crore. The findings would come handy for the SCCL in its future endeavours to extract the coal in the two areas. Mancherial district was chosen considering its proximity to Bengaluru,” Subramanyam said.

The technology was initially applied for erecting Hydro-electric power projects in the Himalayan region, he recollected.

Srirampur Area General Manager Sd M Subhani said with the help of advanced technology, the hydro-fracture tests were held on the peripheral parts of Rasoolpalli village and around RK-7 and 7A underground mines. The recommendations and findings of the investigations would help the SCCL in quarrying the maximum quantity of coal and in reducing the expenditure involved in mining. Ultimately, the State-owned coal producer would be able to register its productivity, he said.

Complex procedure
The procedure for measuring pressure, orientation and condition of coal reserves involves in drilling the ground in a specific location. Water is pumped by applying high pressure via an inject unit.

The water creates the fracture which would give the direction of stress experienced in the formation of mineral.

An imported bore-hole, Tele viewer, is inserted to assess nature of rock and mineral and to measure the fracture. The data gathered through the viewer is interpreted using the software.