PONAR taking part in HydroCoal Plus

HydroCoal Plus project is about developing and providing a demonstration of hydro-cavity technology for improving competitiveness of coal extraction in the world and also, about limiting its effect on environment.

Multiple tests (carried out between August and October) performed in the PONAR Wadowice plant in Łaziska Górne allowed to set optimal parameters of flow rate, water pressure, shape of nozzle and its distance from the processed block of coal.

Majority of tests were carried out by using a remotely controlled robot Aquacutter, which made it possible to precise (and before anything else - safe for the operator) extraction of coal by using a high pressure stream of fluid. On a day-to-day basis, the robot is used for hydrodymanic concrete cutting, but for the time of the project, it was equipped witha specialised manipulator allowing for completion of the research project.

Another stage of this project (also this year) will be tests in real-life conditions in a coal mine in Balchatów, where the results form the tests carried out in the R&D Centre of PONAR Wadowice will be used.