Control strategies for coal dust and methane explosions in underground coal mines: current South African research and development initiatives

摘要

Research and development conducted by CSIR-Mining Technology in the areas of active continuous miner based coal dist/methane explosion suppression systems, passive 'hag based' stone dust barriers systems, design and positioning of refuge bays, integrated escape and rescue strategies, and neural network based coal dust/methane explosion risk assessment is briefly described.It is concluded that effective catastrophic risk management of coal dust/methane explosions is dependent on an systems approach that encompasses fundamental understanding of hazard sources, qualitative and quantitative probability of occurrence, magnitude of consequences and recovery measures.