Mining Publication: A Fail-Safe Control System for a Mine Methane Pipeline
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Original creation date: January 1980
The Bureau of Mines has designed and put into operation a fail-safe control system for use in underground coal mines equipped with methane drainage pipelines. This control system can detect certain unsafe conditions and respond by automatically shutting off the flow of methane from the degasification borehole to the drainage pipeline. Methane flow is shut off when the methane content in the return airways reaches a predetermined level (typically 1.5 pct), when the methane drainage pipeline is ruptured by roof fall, or when there is an electric power failure. The fail-safe control system was designed using commercially available components and a methane analyzer system previously developed by the Bureau. The fail-safe system consists of a unit that combines a shutoff valve and pneumatic valve actuator, and electronic and mechanical equipment designed to detect hazards and effect shutdown. The fail-safe control system was designed to meet regulatory requirements for the same operation of underground methane pipelines used for mine degasification. MSHA has inspected and tested this system and permitted its use in two mines.
Authors: MC Irani, FF Kapsch, PW Jeran, SJ Pepperney
Report of Investigations - January 1980
NIOSHTIC2 Number: 10000714
Pittsburgh, PA: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, RI 8424, 1980 Jan; :1-11
See Also
- Development and Application of Reservoir Models and Artificial Neural Networks for Optimizing Ventilation Air Requirements in Development Mining of Coal Seams
- Explosion Prevention in United States Coal Mines
- Guidelines for the Control and Monitoring of Methane Gas on Continuous Mining Operations
- MCP - Methane Control and Prediction - 2.0
- Remote Methane Sensors
- Reservoir Rock Properties of Coal Measure Strata of the Lower Monongahela Group, Greene County (Southwestern Pennsylvania), from Methane Control and Production Perspectives
- Rotary Drilling Techniques Used in the Beckley Coalbed
- Safety Breakthrough -- Reduced Exposure Mining System (REMS)
- Stochastic Modeling of Gob Gas Venthole Production Performances in Active and Completed Longwall Panels of Coal Mines
- Technical Solutions for Enhancements to Mine Safety Using Barricade II Fire Blocking Gel
- Content source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Mining Program