Abstracts Archive

Federal regulations require refuge alternatives (RAs) in United States underground coal mines. If the thermal environment in an RA becomes severe, trapped miners could experience heat exhaustion or heat stroke, which is deadly. Regulations for underground coal mine RAs mandate an apparent temperatur...

The quantification of exposures to diesel particulate matter (DPM) could be adversely affected by the presence of micron-sized aerosols in DPM samples containing organic and elemental carbon from other than combustion sources. Therefore, size classification plays an important role in the collection ...

Dust control challenges exist in numerous mining applications and is especially prevalent in confined production spaces like mining faces. Water sprays are the most economical and technically feasible means of reducing dust concentrations in a wide range of applications. This study investigated the ...

With the ever-increasing drive towards decarbonization, the case for mine refrigeration using geothermal means is gaining traction. Potential mines must however be located in both favorable geo-political jurisdictions and areas with adequate geological conditions. One such area is Sudbury, Ontario, ...

Jet fans are extensively used in civil road tunnels, large enclosures (such as underground car parks) and other applications requiring the movement of air in large low-pressure voids but are rarely systematically used in underground mining. Despite a relatively low cost and compact size compared to ...

During an underground mine fire, the presence of smoke and toxic gasses, low visibility, and changes in the ventilation system will make it extremely difficult to identify evacuation measures and optimum path to safety. This paper presents an algorithm for solving minimum cost flow network problem (...

This paper summarizes the changes in permeability for two boreholes located above an abutment pillar in a longwall coal mine to characterize potential interaction between shale gas wells and the coal mine operations under deep cover. To determine the safety of the mine environment in case of a poten...

While mine ventilation systems may account for 40% to 50% of the energy consumption of a mine operation, auxiliary ventilation alone may be accountable for half of this consumption. In effect, auxiliary ventilation systems comprise a significant portion of a mine operation's base energy demand and i...

Characterization of respirable dust on the basis of particle constituents and sizes is increasingly of concern for evaluating exposure hazards. For high-resolution particle analysis, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX) can be an effective tool, though it requires part...

Heat loads, associated with auto-compression, geothermal gradient activity, and mining equipment, can lead to high temperatures underground that require mitigation and/or refrigeration in order to create a safe working environment for miners. In this paper, temperature levels associated with heat ge...

Secondary Li-ion batteries are considered the most sustainable power supplies for electric vehicles (EVs). With the extensive implementation of EVs, we are starting to find an expanding number of safety accidents triggered by Li-ion batteries in EVs globally. Battery EV fire produces intense heat, s...

Accurately measuring the airflow delivered by tunnel ventilation fans during site acceptance testing can be difficult due to the fan configuration and constrained sizes of adjoining plenums. Most axial flow tunnel ventilation fans are reversible with drive motors attached directly to the fan impelle...

A ventilation study was conducted on Kucing Liar (KL) mine. KL is the addition to PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) panel cave operations and is anticipated to operate in parallel to Grasberg Block Cave (GBC). The study consisted of model construction, budget preparation and investigating multiple scenar...

Vale's Coleman mine, operating at depths reaching 1,850 m, could experience underground summer temperatures >40°Cdb/28°Cwb without cooling. Through 2019-20, BBE provided EPCM for a 10.3MWR vapour-compression cooling plant that allowed 15% ambient air mixing. The footprint was restricted on three ...

Federal regulations require refuge alternatives (RAs) in United States underground coal mines. The thermal environment of RAs is a concern because, if the thermal environment in an RA becomes severe, trapped miners could experience heat exhaustion or heat stroke, which is deadly. To prevent exposing...

Unconventional gas wells are being drilled through coal reserves in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. The ability for both mining and gas producing activities to coexist safely is a continuing question for federal and state regulatory entities and for industry representatives. A hypothetical, g...

Numerous instances of the word "efficiency" in fan system evaluation contribute to unclear application of efficiencies in simulations and for power estimation. Ventilation simulations using "fixed flows" and software default fan efficiency values to specify fan duties may result in omission of fan s...

Real-time measurements of coal mine dust mass concentration (DMC) are needed for health and ventilation on-demand applications. The currently used method requires capturing aerosol on filters by means of a vacuum pump and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopic (FTIR) analysis so that end-of-work-s...

This study investigates the RCMD characteristics and toxicity based on the geographic locations. Dissolution experiments in simulated lung fluids (SLFs) and in-vitro response were conducted to determine the toxicity level of samples collected from 5 mines in the Rocky Mountains and Appalachian regio...

Vale's Coleman mine has extracted minerals from 200-1,700 m depth for over 50 years and is currently expanding 1,850 m. At depth, autocompression effects superimposed on summer climatic conditions, generate increasingly adverse thermal working conditions with temperatures exceeding 40°C DB and 28°...

Diesel equipment exhaust is a primary source of carbon-rich submicron particles in the underground mine atmosphere. In this study, the characterization of the morphological and physical properties of particles was used for identification of emission source and understanding the effect of diesel part...

Spray freezing technology has been shown its exceptional efficiency, safety, and sustainability for underground mine heating. Designing spray freezing systems requires a mathematical model with the rigorous formulation and fast computation methods, capable of predicting performance indicators. Exist...

The evolution of major coal oxidation and resulting sponcom incidents are sudden and may result in catastrophic negative safety outcome or result in the withdrawal of persons and closure of longwall panels/mines. Historically, experiences of highly gassy longwall workings in Australian Goonyella Mid...

Computer simulations have become an important component of the technical world today and are now the intermediate/third discipline between theory and practical experimentation. New technologies can be built more easily, more accurately, and without expensive prototypes being produced. More time is r...

The Onaping Depth Project is a nickel/copper underground mine project currently in execution by Glencore's Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations. The Onaping Depth orebodies will be accessed via the existing Craig Mine workings after completion of sinking a winze from 1,200 to 2,640m below surface. D...

Prolonged exposure to high concentrations of respirable coal mine dust causes coal workers' pneumoconiosis and silicosis. Roof bolter operators in underground coal mines have a higher risk of coal dust overexposure. The canopy air curtain (CAC) was developed by NIOSH to protect roof bolter operators...

Process ventilation involves using airflow to control dust generated in process operations. Understanding of process ventilation design practice is important for mining engineers and operations personnel responsible for mitigating the risk of handling combustible dust and non-combustible dust hazard...

Detecting the development of explosive methane–air mixtures on a longwall face remains a difficult task. Even when atmospheric monitoring systems and computational fluid dynamics modeling are used to inspect methane concentrations, they are insufficient as a real-time warning system in crucial are...

Experimental sampling of diesel exhaust nanoparticles using a Naneos Partector 2 instrument has been conducted in an underground polymetallic mine. This sampling was conducted within 12 minutes in the operator open cabin of the mine face LHD loader R1700 (engine model Cat@C11 ACERT, 241 kW, Tier 3/S...

A fan's operational reliability is a critical factor in ensuring that an underground mine's primary ventilation system enables and sustains the mine's continuous operation. At a time when underground mining operations are required to access ore bodies located at ever greater depths, primary ventilat...