VNIT Researchers Develop Technology to Achieve Up to 95% Coal Recovery A groundbreaking technology developed by researchers at Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT), Nagpur, has the potential to revolutionize coal extraction by significantly increasing recovery rates from the current 60–65% to as high as 95%. This innovation addresses a critical challenge in underground mining, particularly in areas where surface structures such as railways, highways, buildings, forests, and other sensitive sites limit traditional extraction methods. The technology, developed by AK Agarwal, associate professor, and Anupam Anant Kher, assistant professor, in the department of mining engineering at VNIT, has already been patented. The core of the technology lies in its application of the bord-and-pillar mining system, a conventional method where coal is extracted in a grid-like pattern of openings (bords) while leaving behind coal pillars to support the mine’s roof. These pillars, often left untouched due to safety concerns or structural limitations, contain substantial coal reserves that are typically difficult or unsafe to recover. The VNIT solution combines mechanized pillar extraction with simultaneous backfilling of the voids created during mining. A continuous miner, a highly mechanized underground machine, is central to this process. Unlike conventional methods, which rely on slower, less efficient extraction techniques, the continuous miner allows for faster coal retrieval. However, the speed of such machines poses a challenge for traditional sand stowing, a method used to fill underground voids with sand after coal extraction. The VNIT technology overcomes this by dividing coal pillars into smaller sections and extracting them in a predetermined sequence using the continuous miner.#vnit #ak_agarwal #anupam_anant_kher #vaidehi_dakwale #gaurav_tiwari
