Location
Rolla, Missouri
Session Dates
11 Jun 1999 - 17 Jun 1999
Keywords and Phrases
In-Situ Methane Monitoring; Continuous Miners; Methane Control Efficiency; Methane Safety Index
Abstract
Various methods have been derived to determine the effectiveness with which ventilation systems clears headings of methane in a bord-and-pillar sections. A problem with applying these methods in underground sections is that the either require the face-area air quantity to be measured, which is virtually impossible in South African collieries, or they were developed for test galleries, making it difficult to use in production sections. Taking this into consideration the methane safety index (MSI) method was developed. The method utilizes methane data recorded around an active continuous miner (CM) and an activity log of cm operations to quantitatively assess methane control. Factors used includes methane levels, trends in peak values and regulatory safety levels. With the aid of a spreadsheet a single number is calculated describing the methane clearing ability of a ventilation system. Advantages of MSI method is that there are three fixed and discrete categories of values, making interpretation easy. The method will also give reliable feedback were low methane levels are present and can be used to quantitatively asses how well a ventilation system coping with the methane load.
Department(s)
Mining Engineering
Meeting Name
8th U.S. Mine Ventilation Symposium
Publisher
University of Missouri--Rolla
Document Version
Final Version
Document Type
Article - Conference proceedings
File Type
text
Language
English
Recommended Citation
van Zyl, F. J., "A Proposed New Method to Determine the Effectiveness of In-Heading Methane Control" (1999). U.S. Mine Ventilation Symposium. 4.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/usmvs/8usmvs/8usmvs-theme5/4
A Proposed New Method to Determine the Effectiveness of In-Heading Methane Control
Rolla, Missouri
Various methods have been derived to determine the effectiveness with which ventilation systems clears headings of methane in a bord-and-pillar sections. A problem with applying these methods in underground sections is that the either require the face-area air quantity to be measured, which is virtually impossible in South African collieries, or they were developed for test galleries, making it difficult to use in production sections. Taking this into consideration the methane safety index (MSI) method was developed. The method utilizes methane data recorded around an active continuous miner (CM) and an activity log of cm operations to quantitatively assess methane control. Factors used includes methane levels, trends in peak values and regulatory safety levels. With the aid of a spreadsheet a single number is calculated describing the methane clearing ability of a ventilation system. Advantages of MSI method is that there are three fixed and discrete categories of values, making interpretation easy. The method will also give reliable feedback were low methane levels are present and can be used to quantitatively asses how well a ventilation system coping with the methane load.
