Chapter 5 - Integrated Mine Environment and Strata Condition Monitoring System

Abstract

Underground coal mines are prone to accidents due to roof fall, collapse of gallery sides, gas poisoning, gas, and coal dust explosions, etc. Besides these, the working environment inside the mines is not comfortable due to deficiency of oxygen; sudden appearance of toxic, inflammable, and unpleasant gases; increase in temperature; and excess of humidity. To cope with these problems, the mining industry is in need of suitable sensors for assessing different underground situations to get an inkling of the impending dangers and take proactive actions. This chapter describes in detail about an integrated environment and strata condition monitoring system developed by the authors. The system is capable of monitoring seven gases (methane, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide) and other environmental parameters like air velocity, temperature, and humidity. It can also be used for monitoring three strata parameters (load of roof at a particular point, convergence of roof, and pressure on pillars) and different seismic events that generally occur in mines. The uniqueness of this system is that it accommodates 14 different sensors within a single enclosure for monitoring respective parameters.