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

18 / 2020-01-24 21:25:50

The activation of fire suppression systems on mining vehicles – what happens after that?

suppression system,mining vehicle,event tree,fire suppression

Vehicle fires in mines pose a considerable risk and where one mitigating tool are the fire suppression systems mounted on the vehicles. This work investigates the reliability and performance of the fire suppression system on mining vehicles in Western Australia. The probability of a successful activation and discharge as well as a successful extinguishment (together with a fire extinguisher) was found to be similar to the probability for automatic water sprinkler systems in buildings. System maintenance, service and more frequent checks were found to be plausible remedies with respect to actuation and discharge failures. The percentage of incidents involving the cab area and the wheel/tyre region was found to increase with increasing fire severity and failure of the suppression system. Cases were found where hydraulic hoses outside the engine compartment emitted hydraulic oil on the hot exhaust. A possible measure in these cases could be to partially cover the exhaust outlet.