Concurrent Solar-Illumination and Power Line Voice Communication for Indian Underground Coal Mines – An Experimental Study

Abstract

The illumination systems in underground coal mines in India, generally operating in unfavourable, hazardous, and restricted environments, are badly in need of updating and revamping as they play a vital role in mine safety and productivity. Moreover, person-to-person communication in underground coal mines is very inadequate. In view of limited resources, the provision of illumination and communication using the same infrastructure forms an attractive proposition. As wireless communication is not a viable alternative because of the high attenuation profile there, wired personal communication employing the proposed DC distribution system along with LED illumination proves to be a very efficient and economical approach. The proposed technique establishes the design and implementation of the very low voltage DC (LVDC) power distribution system especially for mine illumination in consort with power line voice communication for underground coal mines. The environment of an Indian underground coal mine is simulated inside a sub-way tunnel and a suitable model designed. An experimental study is made to validate the technical aspects. The major contribution of the present work is a novel solution comprising of a low-cost mine-safe illumination system along with essential voice communication by the same underground infrastructure.