China Railway Engineering Equipment Group Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China Railway Group Limited (CREC), recently completed development of two pioneering tunnel boring machines (TBM) -- the world's first green TBM and the world's first mining-dedicated large-inclination-angle downhill TBM.
A view of the CREC 1237 TBM, the world's with a green development concept [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
CREC 1237, the world's first TBM with a green development concept, has an excavation diameter of 9.16 meters. With a total length of about 135 meters, the machine weighs at about 1,900 metric tons.
It is capable of automatically adjusting to the best excavation efficiency and the ideal energy consumption with the automatic smart management system in play during digging, realizing green operation and energy saving.
What's more, the machine adopts the energy-saving and advanced dust removal technologies to reduce dust and noise and is equipped with continuous excavation and single-minute exchange of die(SMED) technologies, which greatly improves its excavation efficiency while cutting down energy consumption and reducing pollutant emissions.
The machine will be used in construction of the high-speed railway tunnel in Sicily, Italy, and is expected to become a highlight of China-developed advanced equipment under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.
A view of Huaidunhao, the world's first large-inclination-angle downhill TBM for mining [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
Another CREC-developed advanced tunneling machine is Huaidunhao, the world's first large-inclination-angle downhill TBM for mining. The 82-meter-long machine has an excavation diameter of 5.53 meters and will be used in tunnel construction of the Linhuan coal mine project.
The machine is specially designed with its cutterhead excavation and horizontal support propulsion systems suitable for the project, making it safe, environmentally-friendly, efficient and intelligent, while improving construction efficiency and safety.
Up to now, the CREC-developed TBMs have been exported to more than 30 countries and regions and the company has orders for more than 1,500 TBMs. Its TBMs have dug more than 4,000 kilometers around the world.
(Executive editor: Xie Yunxiao)
