The Mining Company Successfully Reformed the Brake System of the First 150-Ton Electric Locomotive

Recently, the locomotive depot of the mining company’s transport department completed upgrading and transformation work on the braking system of a 150-ton electric locomotive, becoming the first successful case of independent transformation in the Qian'an area.

Locomotive 342 is a 150-ton model purchased from Panzhihua. Its braking system and air compressor are old-fashioned, which not only leads to low braking efficiency, but also means the breaking structure itself is complex, with a higher failure rate than newer twin-screw air compressors. In view of these problems, the transport department’s locomotive depot took the initiative and begun research. Yi Guangsheng, the leader of the integrated innovation studio, drew upon his years of experience working in the field of braking, and led the members of the responsible area to work hard for four days, thoroughly investigate all the pipelines, determine the removable air ducts and the parts that must be retained, and then fully invest in the upgrading and reconstruction of the brake system 342. After determining the position of 14 new valves of the JZ7 brake, they designed the pipeline between the distribution valve and the two self valves to be equidistant, so as to ensure that the distribution valve distributes the same air volume, and ensures the opening time is the same. Taking the original pipeline system as a reference, the pipeline size, ventilation diameter and inflection point of the pipeline were repeatedly tested, and the parameters were finally determined. Finally, more than 100 welding joints including the tee pipe and ventilation pipe were welded.

After the completion of the transformation, the locomotive depot kept constant tabs on the operation of locomotive 342, made use of the reconditioning and regular inspection opportunity to continuously improve and worked hard to bring the braking system to its best possible state. Up to now, the modified brake system has fully met the specific seven-step brake system requirements.