Investigation of Electromagnetic Emissions in a Deep Underground Mine

Details

• Personal Author:
  Knoll S ; Scott, Douglas F. ; Williams T
• Description:
  Highly stressed rock in stopes continues to be a primary safety risk for miners in underground mines because it can result in failures of ground that lead to both injuries and death. Spokane Research Laboratory personnel investigated electromagnetic (EM) emissions in a deep underground mine in an effort to determine if these emissions could be used as indicators of impending catastrophic ground failure. Results suggest that (1) there is no increase in the number of EM emissions prior to recorded seismic activity, (2) some EM signals are generated during blasting, (3) interference from mine electrical sources mask seismic-generated EM signals, (4) EM emissions do not give enough warning (compared to seismic monitoring) to permit miners to leave a stope, (5) the distance an EM signal can travel in the rock is between 18 and 40 m, and (6) current data acquisition systems do not differentiate between EM signals generated from seismic activity and random mine electrical noise. These results preclude monitoring EM emissions as precursors of impending catastrophic ground failure. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Air Pollution Environmental Exposure Environmental Monitoring Mining Occupational Health Particulate Matter Safety Vehicle Emissions Volatile Organic Compounds
• Keywords:
  Accident-prevention Electromagnetic-energy Electromagnetic-fields Electromagnetic-radiation Ground-stability Injury-prevention Mining-industry Rock-falls Rock-mechanics Underground-mining
• Series:
  Mining Publications
• ISBN:
  0939084569
• Publisher:
  West Virginia University
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 3 ; Washington ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  SRL - Spokane Research Laboratory
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  125-132
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20026118
• Citation:
  Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Ground Control in Mining, August 3-5, 2004, Morgantown, West Virginia. Peng SS, Mark C, Finfinger GL, Tadolini SC, Heasley KA, Khair AW eds., Morgantown, WV: West Virginia University, 2004 Aug; :125-132
• Editor(s):
  Peng SS; Mark C; Finfinger GL; Tadolini SC; Heasley KA; Khair AW
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2004
• NORA Priority Area:
  Research Tools and Approaches: Control Technology and Personal Protective Equipment
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Ground Control in Mining, August 3-5, 2004, Morgantown, West Virginia
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1cba047276e4a022826a43a6876bd2d7da17fdf5b9140de2a8ae79c0347abfa9e76abe61f5a82873e40ff5782efb79ac67590c81e0a1bce17673403ff1f49332
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/220980/cdc_220980_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.12 MB ]