The Jin Cheng Coal Group, one of the biggest coal groups in China, has employed new Voith Fluid Couplings on its armoured face conveyor (AFC) drives to reduce downtime and raise productivity of the Chang Ping coal mine. In the past, the mine experienced problems with its AFC drives equipped with two two-speed motors. The group opted to replace the two-speed motors with Voith Fluid Couplings (type 562 DTPKWL2), in order to prevent chain breaks as well as gearbox and motor break downs in the future.

The Voith couplings provide several benefits for AFC drives. “Based on the hydrodynamic principle, the fluid couplings protect the whole drive train from overload situations, which often happen at Chang Ping coal mine”, Mao Weihong, Head of the Mechanical and Electrical Department of Chang Ping Coal Mine, reports. The 562 DTPKWL2-1000 couplings are powerful enough to easily handle blockages of the AFC without downtime or damage of the equipment. The customer also mentioned the reliability of the couplings and their soft start function. Since the installation of the couplings in 2009, there have been no AFC chain breaks. This also means significantly reduced maintenance. Currently the 225 m wide and 1,000 m long coal panels produce an output of 3 Mt/y.