Corona-Discharge-Initiated Mine Explosions

Details

• Personal Author:
  Novak T ; Sacks, H. Kenneth ; Novak T ; Sacks, H. Kenneth
• Description:
  Strong circumstantial evidence suggests that lightning has initiated methane explosions in abandoned and sealed areas of underground coal mines. The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) investigated several of these occurrences within recent years. The investigated explosions occurred at significant depths, ranging from 700 to 1200 ft. Data from the National Lightning Detection Network indicated a strong correlation between the times and locations of the explosions with those of specific lightning strikes. This paper proposes that corona discharge from a steel borehole casing is the most likely mechanism responsible for these ignitions. A recently investigated mine explosion and fire at a depth greater than 1000 ft was selected for this study. Computer simulations were performed, using data collected at the mine site. CDEGS software from Safe Engineering Services & Technologies, Ltd. and MaxwellSV from Ansoft Corporation were used for the simulations. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Electric Injuries Electricity Explosions Mining Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Electrical-hazards Explosion-prevention Explosive-atmospheres Explosive-gases Mine-disasters Mine-gases Mining-industry Underground-mining
• ISSN:
  0093-9994
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Contract
• Genre:
  Journal Article ; Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health ; Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America ; North America
• Volume:
  41
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20031047
• Citation:
  IEEE Trans Ind Appl 2005 Sep/Oct; 41(5):1316-1322
• Contact Point Address:
  Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Department of Mining and Minerals Enginering, 100 Holden Hall, Blacksburg, VA 24060
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2005
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7efc0e4d11700e8ffc52ea01b9063930dc103f9ddcf6e2831db86b5fbcfe3e9450ec09d363866ffb63392e7c3a418e10657d58336d7aac6a7c5e09b7d9fba065
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/191435/cdc_191435_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.09 MB ]