Water Bags Made From Polyethylene - Alternative to Conventional Water Trough Barriers

摘要

Some Eastern European mining countries are using the new WATA water bag extinguishing medium system for explosion protection. The reasons for this use are the qualitative and quantitative advantages of the water bag barrier compared to conventional water troughs, which have been observed by the collieries in the Czech Republic and Poland since introduction of the water bag underground in 1997. The article describes with reference to Eastern European countries, in particular the Czech Republic, what cost reduction potential would be possible in practice also in the German coal mining industry by use of the water bag system compared to the traditional water trough in times of rationalisation pressures and reduction of subsidies.