Multi-factor dynamic analysis of the deformation of a coal bunker in a coal preparation plant

To assess the deformation of a coal bunker and propose effective preventative measures for such, a real-time monitoring system was designed. Moreover, methods were proposed for monitoring the coal-bunker inclination, settlement, groundwater level, temperature, and material level. By using a vector autoregression model and time-series data for the coal-bunker deformation, a long-term equilibrium relationship was derived between the coal-bunker inclination and settlement and their influencing factors. The dynamic effects of each factor on the coal-bunker inclination and settlement and how the contribution of each factor changes were revealed by using an impulse response function and variance decomposition. The results show that the coal-bunker inclination and settlement vary hysteretically. Groundwater level has constant and small negative effects on the coal-bunker inclination and settlement, and temperature has continuous and significant negative effects; however, material level has constant positive effects on the coal-bunker settlement and slightly influences the eastward inclination while significantly influencing the northward inclination of the coal bunker. Also, unbalanced loading has little influence on the coal-bunker settlement and eastward inclination but significant influence on its northward inclination. Therefore, monitoring of the coal-bunker deformation should be strengthened in summer, and sudden changes in material level and unbalanced loading should be avoided during production. Moreover, the coal-bunker inclination can be adjusted by unbalanced loading in the reverse direction.