The Fifth International Symposium on Mine Safety Science and Engineering (ISMSSE2021)

130 / 2021-10-04 14:26:21

The use of Longwall Active Explosion Barriers to mitigate the risk of explosions

Active Explosion Barrier,Methane Gas Explosion,Coal Dust Explosion,Explosion Mitigation,Safe Mining

Active Explosion Barriers have successfully been used to mitigate the risk of methane gas and coal dust explosions. These explosion barriers have initially been implemented on Continuous Miners. Their ability to stop an explosion at the source has been demonstrated multiple time during the last 20 years. The first country to include Active Explosion Barriers as part of their explosion mitigation guidelines in underground coal mines was South Africa. Initially these guidelines indicted the use only on cutting machines. Later the guidelines where extended to allow the use of Active Explosion Barriers to replace Passive Barriers in other areas of operation. During the Active Explosion Barrier evolution other countries also acknowledged the use of these barriers to mitigate the risk of underground explosions. While South Africa is dominated by the room and pillar mining operation, mines in China and Australia frequently use longwall operations. The two mining methods not only differ in regard to their coal cutting process, they also face different challenges in regard to the methane gas and coal dust explosion mitigation. While the room and pillar cutting process has a single entry into the coal seam and therefore only a single escape route for an explosion, a longwall operation will allow an explosion to travel along two direction. Both mining operations allow the effective implementation of Active Explosion Barriers. The implementation of the barriers differs to accommodate operational and environmental requirements. Based on current best practises this paper will reflect the current standards that are used for designing and installing Active Explosion Barriers in both room and pillar and Longwall mining operations. This includes the theory on how the explosions can be limited within the cutting environment.