Digital Twins in Industry

Digital Twins in Industry is a compilation of works by authors with specific emphasis on industrial applications. Much of the research on digital twins has been conducted by the academia in both theoretical considerations and laboratory-based prototypes. Industry, while taking the lead on larger scale implementations of Digital Twins (DT) using sophisticated software, is concentrating on dedicated solutions that are not within the reach of the average-sized industries. This book covers 11 chapters of various implementations of DT. It provides an insight for companies who are contemplating the adaption of the DT technology, as well as researchers and senior students in exploring the potential of DT and its associated technologies

Tunnel Engineering

This volume presents a selection of chapters covering a wide range of tunneling engineering topics. The scope was to present reviews of established methods and new approaches in construction practice and in digital technology tools like building information modeling. The book is divided in four sections dealing with geological aspects of tunneling, analysis and design, new challenges in tunnel construction, and tunneling in the digital era. Topics from site investigation and rock mass failure mechanisms, analysis and design approaches, and innovations in tunnel construction through digital tools are covered in 10 chapters. The references provided will be useful for further reading

Advances in Condition Monitoring, Optimization and Control for Complex Industrial Processes

The book documents 25 papers collected from the Special Issue “Advances in Condition Monitoring, Optimization and Control for Complex Industrial Processes”, highlighting recent research trends in complex industrial processes. The book aims to stimulate the research field and be of benefit to readers from both academic institutes and industrial sectors

Is carbon monoxide sensing an effective early fire detection option for underground coal mines?

The ability of carbon monoxide (CO) sensing to detect early stage smouldering of fixed plant fires in underground coal mines was recently assessed as part of an ongoing fire detection research project. Experiments were carried out to record the level of CO concurrent at the time of alarm activation of a Video Based Fire Detection (VBFD) system. The tests were carried out under simulated mine conditions within the SIMTARS facility at Redbank, Queensland. The experimental setup initially located the CO sensors in the positions at where they would typically be installed underground. On testing the experimental setup, it was found that the amount of CO produced from simulated overheating conveyor belt bearing housings did not display a reading on the CO sensors. The VBFD system however detected smoke and alarmed on each of the trial tests. To enable the experiments to proceed and a comparison to be made, the CO sensors were moved considerably closer to the weak pyrolysis fire source. The question of CO sensor capability in typical operational mine positions was highlighted as a result of this experiment. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling was used to estimate the fire size required to activate CO sensors under typical mining conditions. This modelling reinforced the limitations in using CO detectors on fixed plant. As such, the study presented here indicates that CO sensing may not be the most effective early fire detection option available, and that further research and development work with VBFD should be undertaken

Comparative analysis of coal fatalities in Australia, South Africa, India, China and USA, 2006-2010

Coal mining (especially underground) is considered one of the most hazardous industries, and as a result considerable focus is applied to eliminating or mitigating hazards through careful mine planning, equipment selection and certification, and development of management systems and procedures. Regulatory agencies have developed in-house methods for reporting, classification and tracking of fatalities and other incidents according to the type of event, often including consideration of different hazard types. Unfortunately, direct comparison of mining safety statistics between countries is confounded by considerable differences in the way that individual countries classify specific fatalities or incidents. This paper presents a comparative analysis of coal mining fatality data in Australia, South Africa, India, China and the United States from 2006 to 2010. Individual classification definitions are compared between the five countries, and methods presented to normalise each country’s hazard definitions and reporting regimes around the RISKGATE framework of seventeen different priority unwanted events (or topics). Fatality data from individual countries is then re-classified according to the different RISKGATE topics, thereby enabling a comparative analysis between all five countries. This paper demonstrates the utility and value of a standard classification approach, and submits the RISKGATE framework as a model for classification that could be applied globally in coal mining. RISKGATE is the largest health and safety project ever funded by the Australian coal industry (http://www.riskgate.org) to build an industry body of knowledge to assist in managing common industry hazards. A comprehensive knowledge base has been captured for risk management of tyres, collisions, fires, isolation, strata underground, ground control open cut, explosions, explosives, manual tasks and slips/trips/falls. This has been extended to outburst, coal burst and bumps, interface displays and controls, tailings dams and inrush

RISKGATE and Australian coal operations

The major Australian Coal Association Research Program (ACARP) project, RISKGATE has now completed three years of knowledge capture and system development. The body of knowledge for risk management of tyres, collisions, fires, isolation, strata underground, ground control open cut, explosions, explosives underground, explosives open cut, manual tasks and slips/trips/falls was launched in December 2012. Recently, the project added knowledge about outbursts, coal bumps and bursts, human-machine interface, tailings dams, occupational hygiene and inrush to the original 11 topics. In 2014, the project plans (pending ACARP funding approval) to focus on issues around Fitness for Work. RISKGATE provides an environment for knowledge capture and knowledge exchange to drive innovation and cross industry sharing of current practice in the identification, assessment and management of risk. By capturing operational knowledge from industry experts, RISKGATE provides a cumulative corporate memory at a time of high personnel turnover in the coal industry. RISKGATE is the largest single ACARP Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) initiative to date. This paper presents an overview of the first seventeen topics, topic structures, and contrasts and inter-relationships between topics. The second part of the paper discusses some early steps that companies are taking to integrate RISKGATE into their operations; and conclude with some thoughts on where RISKGATE can go in the future

Commissioning adiabatic oven testing - an inter-laboratory comparison

Adiabatic oven testing for spontaneous combustion assessment has been a primary method used by the Australian and New Zealand coal industries for input to the development of Principal Hazard Management Plans for mining operations. Consistency of results is important to ensure that the ratings obtained are accurate and reliable for maintaining the integrity of the database used to compare between mines and for obtaining site specific relationships. This paper presents the results from commissioning tests of four new adiabatic ovens at two different laboratories, which show the high level of reproducibility and repeatability needed for confidence in planning of future mining operations. The results cover a range of coal self-heating rates to show the validity of the testing and the reliability of the adiabatic ovens