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By R. A. Keaens, L. C. IlsLey

For the purpose of this paper a junction box is defined as " a fused switch, inclosed in an explosion-proof compartment, provided with a ready means of connecting or disconnecting a trailing cable without exterior arcing." Junction boxes are intended for use 'at the end of trailing cables and are usually placed outby the last open break through in a coal mine. Where it is not safe to supply current through nips or a trolley, junction boxes suitably spaced along an entry permit tramming and movement of machines with safety, although not with any considerable speed. Junction boxes serve a threefold purpose: (1) They prevent dangerous arcing at the outby end of trailing cables; (2) they afford a safe, practical means of fusing or otherwise protecting the trailing cable; and (3) they provide an efficient means of transmitting power from the power circuit to the trailing cable. The first purpose is the most important from a safety standpoint. Dangerous arcing-that is, arcing capable of igniting gas-frequently takes place where trailing cab1c.s are attached to the power circuit. At either 250 or 500 volts only a very small arc is required to ignite mine gas. The usual method of connecting the trailing cable to the power circuit by cable nips or trolley taps does not make a good electrical connection; hence arcing may be expected at any time. Furthermore, junction boxes eliminate the personal hazard attendant upon the use of trolley taps by removing the possibility of accidental contact with trolley hooks or wire and the liability to injury due to manipulation of the device. In the general scheme of mine ventilation it is assumed that gas will not accumulate where junction boxes are placed, an assumption based on the normal operation of the ventilating system. In many

Jan 1, 1929

By E. C. Perkins

This report describes a ferric chloride trap, based on formation of a low-melting sodium chloride-ferric chloride mixture of near-eutectic composition, and its use in chlorination of impure titaniferous materials. The trap is placed in the hot gas stream between the chlorination reactor and the condenser. Virtually all of the iron is removed by the trap. The condensed titanium tetrachloride is free of suspended solids and contains only a trace of iron. Four examples are given of the use of the ferric chloride trap in chlorination of impure titaniferous materials. INTRODUCTION In the Kroll process, ductile titanium metal is produced by reducing titanium tetrachloride with magnesium metal.4/ In commercial practice, titanium tetrachloride is produced by chlorinating titaniferous materials in the presence of carbon.2/ In 1957 most producers were using rutile, and virtually all plants were designed for its use. About four-fifths of the domestic consumption of rutile was imported from Australia. The Bureau of Mines, under provisions of contract DMP-116 with the General Services Administration, studied electrosmelting of domestic ilmenites and titaniferous magnetites to produce high-titanium slags with pig iron as a byproduct. Under the same contract, chlorination studies also were being made of these slags. Smelting was done at the Northwest Electrodevelopment Experiment Station, Albany, Oreg., and chlorination at the Electrometallurgical Experiment Station, Boulder City, Nev.

Jan 1, 1958

By Yumi Nakashima, Setsuo Maeda

Vibration magnitude and frequency of the z-axis vehicle seat are time-variant, which are influenced by not only vehicle vibration characteristics themselves but also road surfaces, speeds and the human body. There is little in the current reporting about evaluating and analyzing automobile seat vibration that focuses on the time-variant. Yaguchi et al.1 has proposed a method to evaluate automobile seat vibration that is based on judgments using a subjective mental state. Their method focuses on the time-variant magnitude of the peak frequency on a power spectrum density. However, their method has no consideration of all the frequency contents of the discomfort, nor comparison between different peak frequency vibrations. Suzuki2 has emphasized that the vehicle vibration should be judged by a series of vibration stimuli to evaluate, because the vehicle vibration is time-variant, which isn’t a matter of the relationship between a single vibration stimulus and a subjective response. He clarified that the human sensation to the vehicle vibration discomfort changes every moment showing the relationship between the frequency-weighted r.m.s. acceleration calculated every 5 seconds and the category judgment to vehicle vibration discomfort every 5 seconds. However, his study doesn’t show what parameter connects to the subjective final judgment to vehicle vibration. Therefore, we applied the method similar to ISO100563 considering the time-variant to the vehicle seat z-axis vibration evaluation. The new method for the vehicle seat vibration considering the time-variant was examined on the hypothesis that the final subjective evaluation must be conducted from the judgment summarizing a series of vibration stimuli. Methods The vibration bench system, which reproduces the movement of a vehicle floor, was used for the experiment with the single-axis (vertical direction) four-post road simulator system, which is usually used for a car, as shown in Fig.1. The experiment was done on the right side of the vibration bench using the floor vibration which was 5.5 minutes, 0.822 m/sec2 (Wk) over the range 0.5-20Hz with 4 male subjects (age ave21.5, SD0.5, weight ave75kg, SD7.91kg, height ave166.8cm, SD5.2cm) and 4 suspension seats. As Fig.2 shows, subjects evaluated the degree of discomfort every 5 seconds to each seat vibration measuring the seat z-axis vibration acceleration. [ ]

Jan 6, 2006

In 2004, a total of 741 nonmetal mining operations reported employment to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). These mines (e.g., potash, gypsum, salt) comprised 5.1% of all operations.

Sep 1, 2007

By J. C. Edwards

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) implemented a real-time neural network system which can discriminate mine fires from nuisance diesel emissions as part of an atmospheric mine monitoring system in NIOSH?s Safety Research Coal Mine. The real-time response of a neural network to fire sensor outputs was demonstrated for coal and belt combustion in the presence of diesel emissions. The fire sensors consisted of an optical path smoke sensor, a carbon monoxide (CO) sensor, and two types of metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) sensors. The real time neural network was trained with coal, wood, and belt fire experiments with and without diesel emissions background. The trained neural network successfully predicted mine fires with these combustibles in the smoldering stage prior to the onset of flames.

Jan 1, 2005

By Thomas M. Barczak, Dennis R. Dolinar, Gabriel S. Esterhuizen

Longwall mines typically use some form of standing support for secondary roof support in longwall tailgate entries. Although there have been several new support products developed for this application, there remains no universal design criteria to optimize the application of these support technologies. The requirement for optimization and proper support selection is to understand the degree of control that the support has on the ground behavior. The ground reaction curve and numerical modeling was used to evaluate the impact of standing support on ground behavior. LaModel was used to evaluate the impact of standing support on main roof and floor behavior and pillar yielding. The conclusion drawn from this study was that standing supports do not have sufficient capacity to control main roof or floor loading or prevent the resulting convergence of the tailgate entry. However, it is imperative that this “uncontrollable convergence” be considered in the support design to prevent premature failure of the support. A FLAC model was used to evaluate the near-seam roof and floor behavior in conjunction with the global vertical and horizontal stresses. The model suggests that standing roof supports can have some impact on the ground behavior as the elastic response of the rock is exceeded and rock structure deteriorates from the stress concentrations that develop around the tailgate opening. During this phase, the capacity and stiffness of the standing support can be critical to the stability of the opening, as eventually the rock mass will be transformed into a partially detached structure whose weight must be supported by the standing support. This work is part of a ground control program of research at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) aimed at improving mine safety by reducing roof fall injuries and fatalities.

By A. C. Fieldner

"Gas hazards may be divided into two principal classes- namely (1) inflammation and explosions; (2) asphyxiation and poisoning. Inflammation and explosion are prevented first by adequate ventilation so that gas sufficient to propagate flame or explosion can not accumulate, and second, by avoiding sources of ignition such as open lights, flames, sparks, electrical arcs, short circuits, or sparks. Ventilation is also the best preventive measure against asphyxiation and poisoning from toxic gases. When men must enter unventilated or poorly ventilated places containing poisonous or asphyxiating gases, suitable gas masks, hose masks, or oxygen breathing apparatus should be worn. As a rule, loss of life and property from gas hazards is due to ignorance of the properties and hazards of various gases commonly used, and consequently a failure to use proper measures for eliminating and meeting these dangers. It is the purpose of this paper to describe briefly the common gases and vapors with respect to the hazards involved in their use and to discuss the necessary precautions and methods for avoiding these dangersLight, heat, and power are prime essentials of our modern industrial civilization. The combustible gases and vapors used for the production of these necessary elements of our existence comprise the largest and most common group of domestic and industrial gas hazards. Almost every individual in his daily life subject to possible danger from asphyxiation, fire, or explosion due to one or more of these gases. For evidence one need only refer to the daily newspaper where headlines such as the following are frequently seen; ""Family asphyxiated by carbon monoxide from gas heater;"" ""Schoolhouse wrecked by gas explosion in basement;"" ""Man killed by automobile exhaust fumes in his garage;"" ""Fireman overcome by smoke fumes in basement ""Woman"".""Boman severely burned by accidental ignition of gasoline used in cleaning gloves;"" and 'in recent Years we often see ""Building wrecked by explosion of still in residential district.""It will be noted that these accidents are due to inflammation, explosion, or asphyxiation. Any combustible gas or vapor, when mixed, with air or oxygen within certain limiting proportions, will explode on ignition. The violence of the explosion varies with respective proportions of air and gas, and with the degree of confinement of the mixture. For example: Mixtures of natural gas and air containing between 4.5 and 12 per cent natural gas will explode, or propagate flame throughout the mixture without the continual presence of the source of ignition that started the inflammation. The table following gives the explosive limits of the common combustible gases and air:"

Jun 1, 1926

The combined production value of natural abrasives, which consist of tripoli, special silica stone, garnet, and emery, decreased in 1985. Shipments of processed tripoli increased slightly in quantity but decreased 6% in value, Production of garnet, an abundant iron-aluminum silicate, increased 24% in quantity and 20% in value. There was an 11% increase in the quantity and a 7% increase in the value of refined garnet shipped when compared with 1984 shipments, a new record high. Production of crude special silica stone decreased 10% in quantity and 14% in value, and shipments of finished special silica stone products decreased 85% in quantity and 68% in value. Both the quantity and value of special silica stone finished products sold or used were the lowest since 1981. Production of emery, an impure aluminum oxide, decreased 56% in quantity and 61 % in value of product mined and shipped. [ ]

Jan 1, 1987

By E. J. Kloos

The Bureau of Mines devised a new machine-test method for measuring carbon dioxide inspired by a wearer of self-contained breathing apparatus. The new method compares favorably in speed and precision with standard man-tests in which the apparatus is tested while actually worn, and is scheduled for use in future approval tests for facepiece carbon dioxide 'measurements. However, man-tests will still be used to measure the efficiency of the carbon dioxide sorbent materials in closed-circuit breathing apparatus.

Jan 1, 1966

By W. P. Yant

The hazard to health from contamination of air by a noxious gas depends not only on the potential harmful response attending exposure, but also on the warning properties, which in effect may be termed the "accompanying warning response," This warning may be manifested as an odor, taste, irritation of the eyes, nose, or throat, or perhaps headache, vertigo, or nausea. These manifestations may be painful and even slightly harmful, but to a much lesser degree than the primary injury of exposure. The warning response mitigates hazards directly in proportion to the degree of Intolerability which accompanies injurious exposure, and accordingly its absence augments hazards. This accounts for the fact that the actual health hazards from a non-odorous or non-irritating gas or vapor of comparatively low toxicity sometimes equal or exceed the hazard from a considerably more toxic substance, but one which possesses a marked odor or produces eye, nose, or throat irritation in advance of harmful exposure. When a substance lacks the properties for giving warning, it is often possible to impart them by the addition of a small amount of another substance which has an exceedingly high warning intensity. The vapors of this substance, commonly termed a "warning agent" or "tracer gas," escape and mingle with the gas or vapor which lacks warning properties and thereby apprises persons of the latter's presence. The amount of the warning agent added is that which will give adequate warning in advance of serious physiological harm from the dangerous gas or vapor.

Jan 1, 1930

By W. W. Adams

Because of insufficient funds for printing, the Bureau of Mines was unable to publish its annual bulletin covering accidents at metal mines in the United States for the year 1933. A brief mimeographed summary of the principal statistical data for that year was released to the public late in 1934. Since then reports for 1934 have been received from the mining companies, and in order to avoid further delay in releasing this information to the mining industry and others interested in the prevention of accidents in mining, statistics for both years are presented in this publication with a minimum of interpretation and comment. The fatal-accident rate for the metal and nonmetallic mines (excluding coal mines) of the United States was more favorable in 1933 than in any previous year since 1911, the first year for which the Bureau of Mines obtained reports from the operators. Further progress was made in 1934, when the fatality rate was even lower than that of 1933. On the other hand, the nonfatal-accident rate, which had reached its lowest level in 1932, increased in 1933 and increased further in 1934, although not to such an extent as to prevent the rate for either of those 2 years from being better than that for any year previous to r1931.

Jan 1, 1936

By Ronald P. Hollenbeck

The value of mineral production in Alabama reached a new high of more than $246 million. 4 percent above the previous record established in 1964. New high values were reported for bentonite, portland cement, fire day, kaolin, miscellaneous clay, lime, crushed limestone, crushed marble, mica. salt, and sand and gravel. Among the States, Alabama ranked second in the production of bauxite and scrap mica and third in the production of native asphalt. The mineral industry of Alabama was dominated by the mining and processing of coal and Slone, the manufacturing of cement, and the production of crude petroleum, which together comprised 85 percent of the total value of mineral output, compared with 84 percent in 1964. The iron ore industry continued to decline. Coal production continued to increase, resulting in the State's coal-mining best year since 1948.

Jan 1, 1967

By John Rusnak, Christopher Mark

Point load testing is used to determine rock strength indexes in geotechnical practice. The point load test apparatus and procedure enables economical testing of core or lump rock samples in either a field or laboratory setting. In order to estimate uniaxial compressive strength, index-to-strength conversion factors are used. These factors have been proposed by various researchers and are dependent upon rock type. This study involved the extensive load frame and point load testing of coal measure rocks in six states. More than 10,000individual test results, from 908 distinct rock units, were used in the study. Rock lithologies were classified into general categories and conversion factors were determined for each category. This allows for intact rock strength data to be made available through point load testing for numerical geotechnical analysis and empirical rock mass classification systems such as the Coal Mine Roof Rating (CMRR).

By Charles Vaught, Kathleen M. Kowalski

Safety and health professionals from all sectors of industry recognize that training is a critical element of an effective safety and health program. A major concern in the mining industry is how to train both an aging workforce and the expected influx of new miners and mine managers as older workers retire. Thus, a review of some of the basic principles of adult learning may be helpful to mine trainers. This paper discusses the principles of adult learning based on research in education and psychology. It stresses the importance of taking a systems approach to training, focusing on the relationship between the environment and technology, and understanding how workers interact with both. The authors argue that the principles of adult learning and a systems approach are fundamental to the delivery of effective training in the mining industry. Examples of training programs developed by the Pittsburgh Research Laboratory of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health are presented within two broad performance domains: routine and nonroutine skills. Basics of curriculum development are also briefly presented to provide the mine trainer with a template for program development.

Jan 1, 2002

By Gregory P. Cole, Peter G. Kovalchika, Rudy J. Matetic, Adam K. Smith

Previous studies conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) have shown that approximately 90% of coal miners and 49% of metal/nonmetal miners had a hearing impairment by age 501. Mine workers are exposed to additional noise levels underground due to the reflection of machine generated noise that would otherwise dissipate in an above ground setting. Determining the sound absorption coefficients is essential in modeling the sound field in an underground mining environment. Sound absorption is a measure of the amount of acoustic energy that strikes a surface and is absorbed, rather than reflected. The acoustic environment that mining machines operate in is a critical factor affecting the sound pressure level exposure for mining machine operators. Impedance tube testing is an inappropriate method for determining underground absorption coefficients due to the brittle composition of some of the materials such as coal and slate. Classic absorption coefficient estimation using T60 measurements will not work well in an underground environment because the theory assumes: a finite room, a diffuse field, and relatively uniform absorption. None of these assumptions are true in an open-ended mine entry. This paper will present a method using a ray-tracing technique to determine absorption coefficients for underground mines. Absorption coefficients are determined and presented for octave bands from 63 Hz to 8 kHz. The absorption coefficients will be essential for determining and predicting potential overexposure to machine operators in different mine environments.

By Danny A. Riley, James R. Sanger, Hani S. Matloub, Lin-Ling Zhang, Ji-Geng Yan

This experimental study was done to determine pathological feature of vibration injury to the peripheral nerves in the hind limbs of rats exposed to 7 days of vibration. Materials and Methods Animals: Twenty four male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 350-400 grams were randomly divided into two groups: sham control group and vibrated group. To document vibration-induced changes in the experimental model, the sciatic nerve was used because it contains both motor and sensory fibers and is relatively superficial in the posterior thigh. Customized Vibrating Platform: The hind limbs of the rats in the vibrated group were exposed to vibration in a custom-built vibrating apparatus consisting of two platforms: a smaller vibrating platform on which the hind limbs of the rat are secured, and a larger platform on which the remainder of the body rests. The vibration parameters (frequency 43.5 Hz, amplitude 1.5mm, acceleration 4.75G, velocity 6cm/sec., and displacement of 3.0mm) of this model were measured. Methods: Rats were anesthetized with 35mg/kg of intraperitoneal Nembutal (phenobarbital) and their hind limbs fixed to the vibrating platform by Velcro loops. Both hind limbs rest on the vibrating platform while the remainder of the body rests on the larger platform. The rats were vibrated 4 hours a day, for 7 days, with close monitoring of the vibration parameters. The 4-hour duration of hazardous vibration was based on recommendations from the British Standards Institution. The sciatic nerve of rats not exposed to vibration, but similarly anesthetized and secured to the vibrating platform, acted as controls. At the end of seven days of exposure to vibration, nerves from both the vibrated rats and the control rats were harvested after perfusion of the lower half of the body using glutaraldehyde as described below. Neural Fixation: The aorta was cannulated, and the inferior vena cava was nicked and the animal was initially perfused with 0.9% buffered sodium chloride. This was followed by perfusion of a filtered mixture of 3% glutaraldehyde and 3% paraformaldehyde fixation solution, The tissue was subjected to post fixation by routine. The neural tissue was then submitted for light and electron microscopy. Results While light microscopy showed minimal histological differences between vibrated (n=12) and control nerves (n=12), the changes revealed by electron microscopy were dramatic. These included thickening of the epineurium, as well as thickening of the myelin sheath as compared with normal nerve. Also, the axon plasma was detached from the myelin sheaths, and many vacuoles were seen between the myelin laminae(Fig.1); These changes were found in all vibrated animals, and in the whole segment of each vibrated nerve. Myelin balls, consisting of

Jan 6, 2006

By R. F. Abernethy

A small-scale method was developed for determining the free-swelling index of coal samples of limited quantity, especially the macerals. Results of a series of tests using a 0.3-gram sample correlated well with those by the standard method using a 1-gram sample. The standard and small-scale methods are modified to give unrestricted swelling for those coals having swelling index numbers above 7.

Jan 1, 1971

By M. E. Poad, M. M. McDonald, J. C. Johnson, W. G. Pariseau

A U.S. Bureau of Mines case study of pillar recovery in high-grade ore near the Ross shaft at the Homestake Mine, Lead, SD, has demonstrated the usefulness of the finite-element method for evaluating shaft pillar mining plans and shaft stability. This report focuses on mine measurements and calibration of the two-dimensional computer model and is the second in a series of three Reports of Investigations describing the Ross shaft study. In this study, borehole extensometers and other instruments were installed to provide data for model verification and to monitor the shaft. Results of the recalibrated two-dimensional model (UTAH2) confirmed the premining stability evaluation. However, after mining began, concern was expressed because cracks and other signs of ground motion appeared at considerable distances from the area of active pillar mining. In part 3 of the study, an intense three-dimensional modeling effort using UTAH3 was initiated. The results again showed that the observed effects were within expectations and that the shaft would remain safe. Three-dimensional analyses of alternative pillar mining scenarios indicated that more of the shaft pillar ore reserve could be recovered than previously thought.

Jan 1, 1995

By John J. Sammarco

Miners depend most heavily on visual cues to recognize underground mining hazards; consequently, illumination plays a critical role in miners? safety. Some hazards are located in the miners? peripheral field-of-view (10 degrees to about 60 degrees off-axis) or on-axis (0 degrees). The objective of this research was to determine if there were visual performance improvements when using solid-state cap lamps with light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as compared to incandescent light bulbs commonly used in miner cap lamps. Recent research has indicated that an increased short-wavelength content of the spectral power distribution of LEDs relative to incandescent lamps improves peripheral visual performance for low-light (mesopic) conditions. The visual performances of nine subjects were quantified by measuring the subjects? speed and accuracy in detecting floor objects located on axis and at ±20 degrees off axis. The objects were located near field (1.83 meters) and far field (3.66 meters). Upon presentation of the objects, subjects would count and point to each object using a red-laser pointer. The object detection response time and number of missed objects were recorded. The results of the visual performance comparison for an LED, a prototype LED, and an incandescent cap lamp are presented. There we no missed objects when subjects used the LED-based cap lamps but, there were three missed object occurrences when subjects used the incandescent cap lamp. The mean detection time when using the incandescent cap lamp was 55.3% greater than the prototype LED cap lamp and 43.5% greater than the LED cap lamp. It can be inferred from this data that the spectral distribution of LED-based cap lamps could enable significant visual performance improvements as compared to incandescent cap lamps1.

Jan 1, 2007

By L. McWilliams, L. D. Patts, J. D. Noll, S. E. Mischler

Elemental carbon (EC) is currently used as a surrogate for diesel particulate matter (DPM) in underground mines since it can be accurately measured at low concentrations and diesels are the only source of submicrometer EC in underground mines. A disadvantage of using EC as a surrogate for DPM is that the fraction of EC in DPM is a function of various engine parameters and fuel formulations, etc. In order to evaluate how EC predicts DPM in the underground mining atmosphere, measurements of total carbon (TC; representing over 80% of the DPM) and EC were taken away from potential interferences in four underground metal/non-metal mines during actual production. In a controlled atmosphere, DPM mass, TC, and EC measurements were also collected while several different types of vehicles simulated production with and without different types of control technologies. When diesel particulate filters (DPFs) were not used, both studies showed that EC could be used to predict DPM mass or TC. The variability of the data started to increase at TC concentrations below 230, µg/m3 and was high (>+20%) at TC concentrations below 160 µg/m3, probably due to the problem with sampling organic carbon (OC) at these concentrations. It was also discovered that when certain DPFs were used, the relationship between DPM and EC changed at lower DPM concentrations.