The iron ore mine owned by the state concern of Luossavaara – Kiirunavaara AB-LKAB state concern has several mining skip shaft hoists for drawing iron ore. Despite using modern systems to secure the travel of these hoists in line with the Swedish regulations, units intended for the emergency breaking of vessels must be used in the so-called free travel paths in the tower and in the shaft sump. The paper discusses the main requirements that, in accordance with the Swedish regulations as regards the operational use of mining shaft hoists, must be met by devices of this type and a solution was proposed for a structure design of the braking unit for the mining shaft hoist installed in the B-1 shaft in the Kiruna mine. The frictional braking system in the form of moving bumping beams was decided to be used in the said hoist, developed in the Cable Transport Department in the University of Science and Technology in Krakow. The action of moving bumping beams consists in these beams, placed at the beginning of free travel paths, not only braking the rushing hoist vessels but also (with the integrated units for vessel capture) performing the function of grips. They secure the vessels against falling down into the shaft after the finished braking process. The advantage of such a solution is that the structural elements: the guiding shank of the tower, the head of the vessel and the bumping beams, transfer many times lower values of dynamic forces at the time of the strike of the vessel against the moving bumping beams when compared with dynamic forces arising at the time of the hit of the vessel against the fixed bumping beams. In the process of designing moving bumping beams, braking simulation is an important stage conducted with a computer program developed in KTL AGH. This program enables the modelling of load-bearing and balance ropes as flexible elements with elastic and suppressing properties. The results of these simulations, especially in the scope of the achieved braking deceleration of the vessels, the values of braking distances and forces in the load-bearing ropes are crucial in confirming the correctness of the assumed concept of the emergency braking system. The braking units in the form of moving bumping beams have been executed by the Polish company Coal-Bud Sp. z o.o. and are now being integrated in the tower and in the shaft sump of the B-1 shaft of the Kiruna mine in Sweden.

The aim of the study was to develop an assessment methodology for the temperature of the surface of the friction pair during the braking for mine hoists. During the braking process, the work of friction is transformed into heat at the level of friction surfaces, and in case high temperatures are reached, the friction coefficient is influenced negatively, thus the risk of braking failure exists. In the first part of the study we measured the temperature of the friction surfaces for a particular case of hoist in real braking conditions. In the second part of the study is presented a theoretical model for the calculation of the temperatures resulted in the braking process for the hoist equipped with shoe brakes. The theoretical model for calculation was simulated numerically for a particular case in real braking conditions. Based on the conclusions resulted after the study, a series of hypotheses and recommendations for adjusting the control of the process parameters have been given out, in order to avoid the excessive heating of the brakes of the hoists and, respectively, their improved safety, maintenance and availability.

Scientific research discussed in the present article is focused on the determination of the vertical conveyance capacity in the process of mining minerals, while applying a mathematical calculation and verification of the calculation results by simulation. Input parameters for the capacity calculation include the transport cycle time. The article presents the results of measuring a transport cycle during the operation and a calculation of the transport cycle while using known formulas. On the basis of the observed findings, two methods of increasing the hoisting machine capacity were proposed. The first method is increasing the velocity from the original value of 6 m.s–1 to the velocity of 7 m.s–1. In this case, we achieved the daily capacity increase in 2-2.5%. The second method consisted in changing the hoisting machine acceleration and deceleration modes by which we achieved as much as 9% increase in the daily capacity. The article also describes a transport cycle simulation model, with its output being the number of work cycles parameter. The obtained parameter was used again in the capacity calculation. The simulation model was used in experiments for both, the current status as well as proposed solutions. The simulation model serves also for calculation verification.