Heat/Humidity Tests of a Built-in-Place Refuge Alternative

Details

• Personal Author:
  Homce, Gerald T. ; Lutz TJ ; Srednicki JR ; Yan L ; Yantek, David S. ; Yonkey JA
• Description:
  Federal regulations require the installation of refuge alternatives (RAs) in underground coal mines. Of the in-use RAs, over 95% are mobile RAs with the remainder being built-in-place (BIP) RAs. Heat/humidity buildup has been one of the major concerns with mobile RAs. For BIP RAs, however, there is a lack of in-mine heat/humidity test data to determine the extent of heat and humidity buildup. To quantify heat/humidity buildup in BIP RAs, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) performed a series of heat/humidity tests on a 60-person BIP RA with and without a borehole air supply. At various times during the year, tests were performed with cooled, heated, or unconditioned borehole air to examine how various outdoor temperatures may affect the thermal conditions inside a BIP RA. The results show that the air supplied to a BIP RA may require heating and cooling, depending on the outside air temperatures and the temperature of the mine. For example, during tests with an external ambient temperature above 70 degrees F and a humidity that reached 90 %RH, providing 55 degrees F dew point air was able to keep the internal apparent temperature below the mandated 95 degrees F. Results for each test case are presented. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Movements Coal Coal Mining Emergencies Hot Temperature Humidity Mining Occupational Health Safety Temperature
• Keywords:
  Air Flow Air Temperature Boreholes Coal Miners Emergency Equipment Emergency Shelters Equipment Testing Heat Miners Mining-industry Outdoors Refuge Chambers Regulations Temperature Control Temperature Effects Temperature Measurement Temperature Regulation Thermal Properties Underground Mines

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• Series:
  Mining Publications
• Publisher:
  Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc.
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 8 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  PMRD - Pittsburgh Mining Research Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-7
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20049557
• Citation:
  2017 SME Annual Meeting, February 19-22, 2017, Denver, Colorado, preprint 17-069. Englewood, CO: Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc., 2017 Feb; :1-7
• Contact Point Address:
  D. S. Yantek, NIOSH, Pittsburgh, PA
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2017
• NORA Priority Area:
  Mining
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  2017 SME Annual Meeting, February 19-22, 2017, Denver, Colorado, preprint 17-069
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7adbc4cae678c698a4034ecfa7773deca89f027c102b48a2538aea48df201458aad2ae8d33e098e69d739bfb98a75fdc460e10b73f1d5bb074d3b0d73cea4b1c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/228393/cdc_228393_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 311.15 KB ]