Visit to the Hambach open-pit mine

A visit to the Hambach open-pit mine was organised for the students after concluding the lectures and exercises of the module Continuous Conveyors, which is offered as part of the field Extraction Technology at the Chair and Institute of Rail Vehicles and Transport Systems (IFS) in the summer semester.

After arriving at the premises, Dr. van den Heuvel, former staff member at RWE Power AG at the Maintenance and Engineering Centre in Frechen and head of the diagnostics/services department (POT-D), explained the mechanical energy expenditure and the design of the devices that are necessary for the mining and transport of lignite in an informative presentation that was followed by a visit to the mine. A few students from the specialisation Rail Vehicle Engineering took part in the visit as well. During the guided tour, the characteristics of the operation of heavy-haul trains (with an axle load of 35 t) and the transport of the lignite to the power plants with own rolling stock along the company-owned track system were also explained.