Research status and development trends in scraper conveyor control technology

Scraper conveyors are core equipment for coal flow transport at fully mechanized mining faces, and their control performance directly affects coal mining efficiency and operational safety. This paper systematically reviews the research status and development trends of scraper conveyor control technology, focusing on severe coal flow load fluctuations, uneven power distribution among multiple motors, frequent chain tension shocks, and high rates of fault-induced downtime under complex operating conditions. According to the control objects and objectives, existing studies are classified into five categories: speed control, torque control, power balancing control, chain tension and operating state control, and fault-tolerant control. The basic principles, typical methods, and research status of each category are described. The analysis shows that variable-frequency speed regulation, permanent magnet direct-drive control, sliding mode control, fuzzy control, and coordinated shearer–scraper conveyor control improve speed regulation and load adaptability. Soft starting, direct torque control, and advanced motor control strategies mitigate starting shocks and torque fluctuations. Master–slave control, multi-motor synchronous compensation, and disturbance-rejecting adaptive control promote coordinated power delivery in drive systems. Wireless sensing and monitoring, automatic tensioning, and intelligent diagnosis enhance chain condition awareness and equipment safety. Existing research remains limited by unreliable acquisition of multi-source state information, insufficient consideration of the coupling among speed, torque, power, and tension, difficulties in the engineering deployment of advanced control algorithms, and inadequate active adjustment and fault-tolerant operation capabilities under fault conditions. Further research needs to advance toward coordinated control of the entire machine, adaptive adjustment of operating states, and proactive safety assurance. Greater emphasis is needed on multi-source information fusion, coordinated mechanical–electrical–hydraulic control, and power reconfiguration and stable operation under fault conditions, to provide technical support for intelligent and highly reliable equipment operation at fully mechanized mining faces.