Roof support monitoring for longwall system

1. A method of monitoring a plurality of roof supports of a longwall mining system, the method comprising:

obtaining, by a processor, pressure data for the plurality of roof supports, the pressure data including pressure information for each roof support of the plurality of roof supports over a monitoring cycle;

analyzing the pressure data, by the processor, to determine whether, for each roof support, a first type of pressure failure occurred during the monitoring cycle;

generating a fault quantity representing a number of roof supports determined to have had the first type of pressure failure occur during the monitoring cycle; and

generating an alert upon determining that the fault quantity exceeds an alert threshold.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first type of pressure failure indicates that a particular roof support failed to achieve set pressure within a first predetermined amount of time.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first type of pressure failure indicates that a particular roof support failed to achieve high set pressure within a first predetermined amount of time.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

analyzing the pressure data, by the processor, to determine whether, for each roof support, a second type of pressure failure occurred during the monitoring cycle;

generating a second fault quantity representing the number of roof supports determined to have had the second type of pressure failure occur during the monitoring cycle; and

generating a second alert upon determining that the second fault quantity exceeds a second alert threshold.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the first type of pressure failure indicates that a particular roof support failed to achieve set pressure within a first predetermined amount of time, and wherein the second type of pressure failure indicates that a particular roof support failed to achieve high set pressure within a second predetermined amount of time.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the second predetermined amount of time is greater than the first predetermined amount of time.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alert threshold is a value greater than four percent (4%) and less than twenty five percent (25%) of plurality of roof supports.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the fault quantity represents the number of roof supports determined to have the first type of pressure failure and that are consecutively positioned.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the fault quantity represents a total number of roof supports, consecutive and nonconsecutive, determined to have the first type of pressure failure, the method further comprising:

generating a consecutive fault quantity representing a number of consecutive roof supports determined to have the first type of pressure failure; and

generating an alert upon determining that the consecutive fault quantity exceeds a second alert threshold, and

wherein the second alert threshold is less than the alert threshold.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the monitoring cycle is one selected from a group comprising of a predetermined time period and a period defined in relation to a shear cycle.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising executing the steps of obtaining pressure data, analyzing the pressure data, generating a fault quantity, and generating an alert for subsequent monitoring cycles.

12. A monitoring device for a longwall mining system having a plurality of roof supports, each roof support including a pressure sensor to determine pressure levels of the roof support during a monitoring cycle, the monitoring device comprising:

a monitoring module implemented on a processor in communication with the plurality of roof supports to receive pressure data including the determined pressure levels, the processor including:

an analysis module configured to analyze the pressure data and to determine whether, for each roof support, a first type of pressure failure occurred during the monitoring cycle;

a tally module configured to generate a fault quantity representing a number of roof supports determined to have had the first type of pressure failure occur during the monitoring cycle; and

an alert module configured to generate an alert upon determining that the fault quantity exceeds an alert threshold.

13. The monitoring device of claim 12 , further comprising:

a set pressure hydraulic line providing set pressure,

wherein the plurality of roof supports are coupled to the set pressure hydraulic line in daisy-chain arrangement, and

wherein the first type of pressure failure indicates that a particular roof support failed to achieve set pressure within a first predetermined amount of time.

14. The monitoring device of claim 12 , further comprising:

a high set pressure hydraulic line providing high set pressure,

wherein the plurality of roof supports are coupled to the high set pressure hydraulic line in daisy-chain arrangement, and

wherein the first type of pressure failure indicates that a particular roof support failed to achieve high set pressure within a first predetermined amount of time.

15. The monitoring device of claim 12 , wherein the longwall mining system includes a set pressure hydraulic line providing set pressure to the plurality of roof supports; and a high set pressure hydraulic line providing high set pressure to the plurality of roof supports.

16. The monitoring device of claim 15 , wherein the first type of pressure failure indicates that a particular roof support failed to achieve set pressure within a first predetermined amount of time, and wherein the second type of pressure failure indicates that a particular roof support failed to achieve high set pressure within a second predetermined amount of time.

17. The monitoring device of claim 16 , wherein the second predetermined amount of time is greater than the first predetermined amount of time.

18. The monitoring device of claim 12 , wherein the alert threshold is a value greater than four percent (4%) and less than twenty five percent (25%) of plurality of roof supports.

19. The monitoring device of claim 12 , wherein the fault quantity represents the number of roof supports determined to have the first type of pressure failure and that are consecutively positioned.

20. The monitoring device of claim 12 , wherein the fault quantity represents a total number of roof supports, consecutive and nonconsecutive, determined to have the first type of pressure failure, the method further comprising:

generating a consecutive fault quantity representing a number of consecutive roof supports determined to have the first type of pressure failure; and

generating an alert upon determining that the consecutive fault quantity exceeds a second alert threshold, and

wherein the second alert threshold is less than the alert threshold.