S
ince the
1930s,
increased use of
mechanised mining
machinery exacerbated the risk of
frictional ignitions in working headings
where the interaction of cutting tools with quartz bands
can result in incendive sparking capable of igniting methane.
The recent introduction of powerful coal winning machines
has further increased the number of frictional ignitions.
Although much research has focused on the development
of preventative and protection measures against coal
mine explosions, disasters still occur. For example, the
mine disaster at Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, in 1979 claimed
12 lives. This explosion was attributed to a frictional ignition,
as was the 1993
explosion at
Middelbult coal mine in
South Africa. In this paper, a
summary of the development and
evaluation work done to prevent methane gas
explosions developing into coal dust explosions using the
ExploSpot active supression system will be described.
ExploSpot
ExploSpot is an intrinsically safe, high-speed
flammable-gas-ignition detection and suppression system that
is capable of creating an extinguishant barrier within 100 msec,
depending on the barrier and roadway configuration. The
system consists of three main components: the control
Preventing
methane
P r o f . J ohanne s J a cobu s
L abu s c hagne du P l e s s i s , Un i ve r s i t y
o f P r e t o r i a , and He lmu t Spä t h ,
HS De s i gn and Eng i nee r i ng ,
Sou t h A f r i c a , d i s c u s s a c t i ve
ba r r i e r pe r f o rman c e i n p r even t i ng
me t hane e xp l o s i on p r opaga t i on .
explosion
propagation
September 2014
|
World Coal
|
41
