Abstract
In underground mines, mobile mining equipment is critical for the production system. The microenvironment inside the mobile machine may cause exposure to strongly polluted mine air, which adversely affects the health and working performance of the operator. Harmful pollutants may access the cabin together with the ventilation air delivered from the machine’s surroundings. This work proposes a solution that is able to ensure that the air for the machine operator is of proper quality. The proposal emerged from an analysis of the compliance of cabins of mobile machines working underground in mines with occupational health and safety (H&S) standards. An analytical model of air quality in a well-mixed zone was utilized for this purpose. The cabin atmosphere was investigated with regard to the concentration of gaseous species in the surrounding air, the cabin ventilation rate, and human breathing parameters. The analysis showed that if currently available ventilation approaches are used, compliance with multiple H&S standards cannot be attained inside the cabin if standards are exceeded in the surroundings of the machine. The proposed solution overcomes this problem by combining elements that are already in place, i.e., ventilation, air-conditioning, and filtration with a personal supply of clean air. The concept is generic and may be adapted to various specific requirements.
Highlights
Mining is one of the oldest industries in the world, and it lies at the foundation of human civilization [1]
It was assumed that the air quality inside the cabin of the mobile machine in an underground mine may be examined under the assumption of spatial homogeneity of the concentration of gaseous species
The problem of ensuring proper air quality inside the cabins of mobile machines operating in underground mines has not been addressed successfully so far
Summary
Mining is one of the oldest industries in the world, and it lies at the foundation of human civilization [1]. The underground mining sector faces a number of environmental and health hazards [2,3,4]. Mobile mining equipment is critical for the production system [6]. This industry is heavily and extensively mechanized by self-propelled, mobile, diesel-powered or electric equipment that is designed to operate underground, produce and transport coal, ore, and personnel, for lifting or loading materials, and to work with the attached equipment [7]. The flexibility and totally independent operational capabilities of this equipment have resulted in substantial productivity gains compared to early mining methods
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