Beilun Power Plant Achieves Full Coverage of Bucket-Wheel Machine Unmanned Operations

All of the eight bucket-wheel machines in Beilun Power Plant under the Zhejiang branch of China Energy achieved unmanned operations on September 7, marking a major step forward in technological innovation.

An unmanned bucket-wheel machine in operation.

To enhance its coal yard’s intelligent operation capacity, the power plant launched the unmanned bucket-wheel machine project and initiated several new technologies including the bucket wheel-based constant reclaiming control technology, reclaiming edge optimized operation, remote automatic centralized operating platform, and automatic stacking mode. Through application of those technologies, operators can control bucket-wheel machines hundreds of meters away, which not only improve the working environment and reduce the labor intensity but also increase the work efficiency by 20 percent.

Through combining the safety monitoring system, unmanned remote operating system and laser disc coal scanner technology, the power plant has realized 3D dynamic real-time monitoring of the coal yard according to the division of functional areas and the categorization of coal. Relying on Golay precise positioning and multi-interface data, it increases the accuracy of automatic operations. The infrared laser temperature detection device with high-temperature alert can conduct real-time monitoring of conveyor belt temperature, thus significantly reducing the risk of fire. Around the bucket-wheel machines are pedestrian detection and protection devices, which can automatically detect pedestrians or obstacles and then automatically stop and restart the machines, effectively improving the safety of equipment.