he Indian Coal Mining Industry is one of the largest industries. It has been a significant contributor to India's economic growth. The industry employs over 1 million people directly and indirectly, with an annual turnover of Rs. 2,10,000 crore (US$ 30 billion). Under the current government, there is a huge stress on digitization and automation of mines in India under the Industry 4.0 initiative. It will enhance the coal industry's tech capabilities and coal prices will be escalated with tech innovations such as LIBS technology.
The Indian coal sector has faced challenges such as a shortage of skilled workforce, population increase, and inadequate infrastructure development. As a result, it has failed to keep pace with the growing demand for energy resources and various types of coal. In this scenario, it is essential to adopt technologies that can help us improve productivity while minimizing damage to the environment. OLM Systems & Technologies offers a revolutionary solution that can enable companies to operate in various sectors. For Example, manufacturing industries (e.g., coal, cement manufacturing), agricultural industries (e.g., sugar manufacturing), and many more utilize LIBS's power technology. OLM and the Ministry of Coal work together to bring the latest technologies worldwide and make them available in India for use of coal in industries. .
“OLM Systems & Technologies-Leveraging Innovation for Mining Excellence.”
OLM has already deployed LIBS for coal analysis; “A technology now adapted in several mines across India. We have a lot more coming up soon” said Mr. Aditya Godbole- Director of Business Development at OLM Systems and Technologies.
This technology will monitor critical parameters like moisture, ash, and calorific value content. Therefore, it will help us significantly improve the quality of coal mining in India.”
OLM Systems and Technologies (OLM) started its operations in 2015 as an R&D company working on various Mining & Mineral Processing technologies. Over the years, we have successfully developed multiple products used by several companies globally.
Our focus has been on developing products that can be used by small to large-scale miners, who constitute around 80% of the total mining population in India. Primarily unorganized and lack access to modern monitoring systems or remote monitoring solutions due to a lack of resources (financial & human).
The company has also been working on developing a portable type analyzer for coal mines to help them analyze their coal stockpiles without any human intervention to get more accurate results at much lower costs than what they are currently paying (between $2-$5 per sample).
It will allow companies to make better decisions based on real-time analysis rather than waiting for days or weeks before getting results.
The LIBS Technology
The market size for this product is enormous because most companies have no proper way of analyzing it. This project aims to assess the quality of coal by remote sensing instruments with the help of LIBS (Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy).
The method proposed here is a non-destructive technique that uses laser light to create plasma at the surface or inside the analyzed material.
The energy released from this process excites atoms into higher energy states within the sample. As a result, they emit light that a detector can collect. By comparing this emission pattern with known spectra, we can determine the chemical composition of target materials. OLM is a technology company based in India which has developed a LIBS-based technology for online coal analysis.
This technology can eliminate the need for manual lab testing, which is currently a massive bottleneck in the industry. Instead, it can monitor coal quality parameters like ash, volatile matter, moisture, sulfur, and caking tendency.
The LIBS technology developed has been tested by the Indian Coal Ministry R&D department and found to be highly accurate and efficient.
And found the cost efficiency of around 60% over a period of 10 years in comparison to conventional methods.
The technology also enables simultaneous analysis of multiple elements in one shot. As a result, there is no need to repeat it again and again like conventional methods. As a result, it saves time and money for enterprises looking for quick results from their operations.
The benefit is that there are no human errors in sampling and sample preparation procedures and no need for any authority certification.
“The Ministry of Coal has found the technology up-and-coming and wants to wholeheartedly adopt it in their ongoing operations.”
The technology provides simultaneous quantitative analysis of all elements, including light details, in real-time without sampling with the industry’s highest accuracy standards. The LIBS is safe and does not contain any radiation, so the absolute safety of plant personnel is ensured and requires no authority certification. The LIBS is independent of environmental conditions and operates 24×7 with zero downtime to ensure maximum productivity. There are no human errors in sampling and sample preparation procedures, resulting in consistent and accurate results.
The Ministry of Coal has found the technology up-and-coming and wants to wholeheartedly adopt it in their ongoing operations.
The high cost of implementation and environmental impact because they were looking to replace their existing facilities with this technology. Therefore, the Ministry approached OLM for help. We helped them by providing an end-to-end solution for implementing this technology in their daily operations. Since approval for publication, the Ministry has been working with OLM on this project for more than six months and developing the technology roadmap.
Download White Papers & Case Studies on LIBS Technology
You can read more about the product in it’s detailed brochure. Download Now
Leave a Reply