Power shovel

Power shovel
A power shovel (also stripping shovel or front shovel or electric mining shovel) is a bucket-equipped machine, usually electrically powered, used for digging and loading earth or fragmented rock and for mineral extraction.[1]

Design
Shovels normally consist of a revolving deck with a power plant, driving and controlling mechanisms, usually a counterweight, and a front attachment, such P & H 4100 XPB cable loading shovel as a boom or crane which supports a handle with a digger at the end. The machinery is mounted on a base platform with tracks or wheels.[2] The bucket is also known as the dipper. Modern bucket capacities range from 8 m3 to nearly 80 m3.[3]

Use
Power shovels are used principally for excavation and removal of overburden in open-cut mining operations, though it may include loading of minerals, such as coal. They are the modern equivalent of steam shovels, and operate in a similar fashion.

Operation
The shovel operates using several main motions: hoist - pulling the bucket up through the bank (i.e. the bank of material being dug) crowd - moving the dipper handle out or in to control the depth of cut and when positioning to dump

Shovel digging overburden

swing - rotating the shovel between digging and dumping propel - moving the shovel unit to different locations or dig positions A shovel's work cycle, or digging cycle, consists of four phases: digging swinging dumping returning

Power shovel The digging phase consists of crowding the dipper into the bank, hoisting the dipper to fill it, then retracting the full dipper from the bank. The swinging phase occurs once the dipper is clear of the bank both vertically and horizontally. The operator controls the dipper through a planned swing path and dump height until it is suitably positioned over the haul unit (e.g. truck). Dumping involves opening the dipper door to dump the load, while maintaining the correct dump height. Returning is when the dipper swings back to the bank, and involves lowering the dipper into the tuck position to close the dipper door.

Notable Examples

Big Brutus

Ranking

Bucket Capacity (m3/yd3) 138/180 107/140 99/130 96/125 88/115 80/105 69/90

Operating weight [4] (tons) 15,000 9,350 6,850 9,338 6,950 7,200 5,220

Type

Name

Service

Scrapped

Marion 6360 Bucyrus Erie 3850B Bucyrus Erie 1950B Marion 5960 Bucyrus Erie 3850B

The Captain River King GEM of Egypt Big Digger The Big Hog

1965 1964 1967 1969 1962 1965 1962

1992 1993 1991 1989 1985 (Accident) 2007 Preserved as a National Landmark 1989

Bucyrus Erie 1950B The Silver Spade Bucyrus-Erie 1850-B Big Brutus

50/65

2,750

Marion 5760

Mountaineer

1956

References
[1] US Department of the Treasury, IRS: Appendix I - Glossary of Mining Terms (http:/ / www. irs. gov/ businesses/ small/ article/ 0,,id=139342,00. html) [2] Encyclopdia Britannica, Power Shovel (http:/ / www. britannica. com/ eb/ article-9061132/ power-shovel) [3] P&H Electric Shovels - Digger Capacity Range (http:/ / www. phmining. com/ equipment/ shovels. html) [4] Extreme Mining Machines, by Keith Haddock, pub by MBI, ISBN 0-7603-0918-3

Further reading
Extreme Mining Machines - Stripping shovels and walking draglines, by Keith Haddock, pub by MBI, ISBN 0-7603-0918-3

Power shovel

External links
P&H MinePro (http://www.minepro.com) Bucyrus International, Inc. (http://www.bucyrus.com/shovels.htm) P&H Electric Shovels (http://www.phmining.com/equipment/shovels.html)

Article Sources and Contributors

Article Sources and Contributors

Power shovel Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=433405703 Contributors: Ahoerstemeier, Almost Anonymous, Andrewgrosman, BulldozerD11, Castroja, DanMS, Escape Orbit, Espoo, Fg68at, GregorB, Laventure, Memty, MichaelBNA, Mssudhahar, R. S. Shaw, Ridgmont, Sansumaria, Sergei Kazantsev, Sladen, Sweetness46, Takamaxa, , 13 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

Image:P&H 4100XPB Shovel-1.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:P&H_4100XPB_Shovel-1.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: Original uploader was Sansumaria at en.wikipedia Image:P&H 4100XPB Shovel-4.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:P&H_4100XPB_Shovel-4.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: Original uploader was Sansumaria at en.wikipedia Image:Brutus_2006-07-02_2244.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Brutus_2006-07-02_2244.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.5 Contributors: Photo by Michael Overton.

License
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported http:/ / creativecommons. org/ licenses/ by-sa/ 3. 0/