Mining Feature: NIOSH OMSHR at the 2015 SME Annual Meeting

Friday, February 13, 2015

NIOSH will showcase some of its latest mine safety and health innovations at the 2015 Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (SME) Annual Conference and Expo February 15–18 in Denver, Colorado. Stop by the NIOSH exhibit to see technology demonstrations, pick up one of our latest publications, or talk with our researchers and representatives.

This year’s exhibit features include:

• Collapsible drill steel enclosures (CDSEs). Two drill steels with CDSEs attached will allow visitors to see this new noise-reducing technology for roof bolter machines. This CDSE is a redesign of an earlier NIOSH prototype. In lab testing, this CDSE reduced noise by 3–5 dB and shows improved usability and durability underground.
• Education on black lung disease. Visitors will be able to see X-rays comparing healthy lungs to those that have experienced years of exposure to coal dust, as well as learn more about black lung prevention and detection through NIOSH’s Enhanced Coal Workers' Health Surveillance Program.
• Fiber optic mine atmosphere monitoring. This display will showcase a fiber optic temperature and methane sensor recently tested and adapted for use in underground mining. With modifications to account for rock dust exposure, the sensors were successfully tested in an underground mine for six months.
• Helmet-CAM and EVADE software. The Helmet-CAM technology is an innovative personal assessment tool that involves a worker wearing a small video camera and a real-time respirable dust monitor to record worker activities while collecting dust exposure data. The EVADE software merges the video file and dust data so users can identify sources of elevated dust exposure. The Helmet-CAM system and EVADE software will be displayed together so visitors can see how the video and dust data are used in the software, as well as learn how this technology can help them control potentially high dust exposures to their workers.
• Hydrophobic rock dust. Visitors will be able to compare traditional rock dust with hydrophobic rock dust, which has an additive that prevents caking when the dust is exposed to water and dried. Video at the display will show the differences in dispersibility between the two types of rock dust. OMSHR researchers will continue to study hydrophobic rock dust for future use in mines.
• New developments in breathing air supplies. Visitors will be able to see prototypes of docking/switchover valves, which allow for continued breathing protection when switching to a new unit; a hood mask with a speech diaphragm, which offers increased face protection and allows users to speak while wearing the device; and very high-pressure cylinders, which provide more efficient oxygen storage.
• Refuge alternative temperature assessment research. Visitors will see 3D-printed models showing the results of tests and simulations where OMSHR studied how the temperature in a refuge alternative rises due to heat generated by various sources, including CO₂ scrubbers and miners’ bodies. These results can be used to guide development of future refuge alternative technologies.

NIOSH Presenters

NIOSH will be presenting in a variety of technical sessions throughout the meeting. Be sure to attend these sessions and hear even more about NIOSH’s work in mine safety and health.

Date	Session	Title	Time/Room	NIOSH Speakers
Monday, February 16	Coal & Energy: The Best of Ground Control	Calibration and Application of Photogrammetric Monitoring of Rock Mass Behavior in Underground Mining	3:25 pm Room 501	Donovan Benton
Tuesday, February 17	Mining & Exploration: Technology: Technology Development and Implementation in Rock Mechanics and Ground Control	A New High Force and Displacement Shotcrete Test	9:05 am Room 706	Brad Seymour
	Coal & Energy: Underground Mining Processes and Practices	Roof and Pillar Failure Associated with Weak Floor at a Limestone Mine	9:05 am Room 502	Michael Murphy
	Coal & Energy: Mining Research and Development	Determination of the Fire Hazards of Mine Materials Using a Radiant Panel	10:35 am Room 501	Sam Harteis
	Coal & Energy: Mining Research and Development	MulsimNL/Large: Reviving A USBM Tool for Modeling Western Mines	10:53 am Room 501	Mark K. Larson
	Coal & Energy: Dust Control I	Laboratory Assessment of a Tailgate Spray Manifold to Reduce Dust Exposures for Shearer Face Personnel	2:25 pm Room 502	James Rider
	Coal & Energy: Dust Control I	Influence of Continuous Mining Arrangements on Respirable Dust Exposures	2:45 pm Room 502	Timothy Beck and W. Randy Reed
	Coal & Energy: Breathing Air Supplies I	Next Generation Breathing Air Supplies Status	2:25 pm Room 504	Rohan Fernando
	Coal & Energy: Breathing Air Supplies I	SCBA Filling from Auto-Cascading Air Refill Stations	4:05 pm Room 504	Rohan Fernando
	Industrial Minerals and Aggregates: Health & Safety	A Useful Tool for Predicting the Occupational Hearing Loss in Mining Industry	3:05 pm Room 102	MingFeng Li
	Coal & Energy: Developments in Health and Safety	Underground Field Tests of Second-Generation Proximity Detection Systems on Continuous Mining Machines	3:05 pm Room 501	Jacob Carr
	Research: NORA Safety and Health Research for Small Mines	The Health of Workers in Small Underground Coal Mines	3:45 pm Room 507	Alice Shumate
Wednesday, February 18	Mining & Exploration: Technology: Electronic Safety Technologies	Field Evaluation of Wireless Machine Guard Monitoring System	2:05 pm Room 704	Miguel Reyes
	Mining & Exploration: Technology: Electronic Safety Technologies	Proximity Detection with Selective Machine Shutdown	2:45 pm Room 704	Joseph DuCarme and Jacob Carr
	Mining & Exploration: Technology: Electronic Safety Technologies	Integrating Technology: Learning from Mineworker Perceptions of Proximity Detection Systems	3:05 pm Room 704	Emily Haas
	Coal & Energy: Dust Control II	Field Evaluation of an Inline Wet Scrubber for Reducing Float Coal Dust on a Continuous Miner Section	2:45 pm Room 501	Jay Colinet
	Coal & Energy: Ventilation Innovations II	CFD Analysis on Gas Distrbution for Different Scrubber Redirection Configurations in Sump Cut	3:25 pm Room 502	David Zheng, Timothy Beck, and James Rider

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