In order to reduce power consumption of sensor nodes and extend network survival time in the wireless sensor network(WSN), sensor nodes are scheduled in an active or dormant mode. A chain-type WSN is fundamentally different from other types of WSNs, in which the sensor nodes are deployed along elongated geographic areas and form a chain-type network topology structure. This paper investigates the node scheduling problem in the chain-type WSN. Firstly, a node dormant scheduling mode is analyzed theoretically from geographic coverage, and then three neighboring nodes scheduling criteria are proposed. Secondly, a hybrid coverage scheduling algorithm and dead areas are presented. Finally, node scheduling in mine tunnel WSN with uniform deployment(UD), non-uniform deployment(NUD) and optimal distribution point spacing(ODS) is simulated. The results show that the node scheduling with UD and NUD, especially NUD,can effectively extend the network survival time. Therefore, a strategy of adding a few mobile nodes which activate the network in dead areas is proposed, which can further extend the network survival time by balancing the energy consumption of nodes. In order to reduce power consumption of sensor nodes and extend network survival time in the wireless sensor network (WSN), sensor nodes are scheduled in an active or dormant mode. A chain-type WSN is fundamentally different from other types of WSNs, in which The paper nodes are deployed along elongated geographic areas and form a chain-type network topology structure. Finally, node scheduling in mine tunnel WSN with uniform deployment (UD), non-uniform deployment (NUD) and optimal distribution point spacing (ODS) is simulated. The results show that the node scheduling with UD and NUD, especially NUD, can effectively extend the network survival time. Therefore, a strategy of adding a few mobile nodes which activate the network in dead areas is proposed, which can further extend the network survival time by balancing the energy consumption of nodes.