Mine Emergency Research Articles

Effect of text message alerts on miners evacuation decisions

This work evaluates the effect of increasing level of detail in emergency alerts on underground miners’ emergency evacuation decisions. An offline survey was administered to underground miners, which provided miners simulated alerts with ever-increasing levels of information about fire, cave in, and explosion emergency scenarios. The simulated evacuation exercise evaluated differences in evacuation decisions due to the channel of communication (text message or through a co-worker). The results indicate that the content of the alert messages has a significant effect on miners’ decisions with more miners choosing to evacuate when more detail is provided about the urgency of the situation. The results also indicate that the evacuation decisions of the participants are related to their mining experience, marital status, age, income, and use of technology. Depending on the scenario, 51–70% of the miners chose not to shelter in place or go to the refuge chamber as instructed in the simulation. This tendency to ignore guidance is possibly due to a lack of clarity in the message sent to them or the poorly crafted messages that do not account for how the miners will account for risk under uncertainty. It appears that the miners are acting in a loss-averse manner given the uncertainty, as per prospect theory. This study also concludes that, overall, the channel of communication does not significantly affect the miners’ evacuation decisions. This may bode well for using text message alerts in mine emergency management. This work presents a foundation for developing effective text messages for guiding miners in emergencies by building off existing research on short-form emergency warnings and applying the principles to the mining context to provide evidence for new emergency alert technologies mandated new underground coal mine safety regulations. Future research should evaluate miners’ decision-making using prospect theory to account for miners’ perception of risk under uncertainty, so that persuasive text messages can be designed to elicit safe evacuation decisions.

Research and Development of Coal Mine Disaster Prevention and Rescue Drill Platform Based on VR Virtual Reality Technology

In order to improve the disaster rescue ability of coal mine rescue teams and enhance the effectiveness of daily training, based on the Unity3D virtual reality development platform, combined with rescue drill content, a framework for implementing a coal mine rescue virtual simulation drill system is designed. Use high-quality modelling technology to establish rescue models and scenarios. Based on database data management, research a multi-person collaborative coal mine rescue drill system based on the real environment of the mine and the evolution scenario of disaster accidents. Through training in realistic disaster accident scenarios, it can be enhanced Trainees’ sense of presence improves the response speed, emergency handling and commanding capabilities of on-site operations, rescue, coal mine emergency commanders.

Recognition of illuminated coloured markers that designate primary and secondary mine escapeways

It is critical for the safety of miners to be able to escape, unaided, during a mine emergency. Self-escape is challenging in the presence of smoke that can occur during a mine emergency. To assist self-escape, coloured markers in underground mines designate the primary/secondary escapeways, but no universal colour code exists. Ten participants were tested to recognize the colour and designation (primary/secondary) of fluorescent yellow–green (FYG), yellow (Y), white (W) and green (G) escapeway markers in both a clear and smoked-filled environment. The overall misidentification rate for all colours was 1.9% and 18.1%, respectively, in clear and smoke conditions. FYG had the highest misidentification percentage for both conditions. For the marker designation tests, participants were most accurate in clear conditions (100.0%) for the FYG + W, Y + G, G + W and W + FYG combinations, and least accurate (89.6%) for the Y + FYG combination, while for smoke conditions participants were most accurate for the G + Y combination (95.8%). The overall effect of colour combination was significant, indicating that the colour combination for primary/secondary recognition is a significant factor where the G + Y combination was best. It can be inferred from these data that the colour combination is an important factor in participants’ ability to recognize primary/secondary escapeway markers in smoke conditions.

Cryogenic Air Supply for Cooling Built-in-Place Refuge Alternatives in Hot Mine

Built-in-place (BIP) refuge alternatives (RAs) are designed to provide a secure space for miners who cannot escape during a mine emergency. Heat and humidity buildup within RAs may expose miners to physiological hazards such as heat stress. To minimize the risk of heat stress, Title 30 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), or 30 CFR, mandates a maximum allowable apparent temperature (AT) for an occupied RA of 35 °C (95 °F) (MSHA 2008 [1]). The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has conducted extensive research on the thermal environment of occupied RAs intended for use in underground coal mines. NIOSH research has demonstrated that a fully occupied BIP RA can exceed the AT limit by > 5.6 °C (10 °F) in mines with elevated mine strata and air temperatures (Bissert et al. 2017 [2]). In this circumstance, an RA cooling system could provide a solution. This paper provides an overview of test methodology and findings as well as guidance on improving the performance of a cryogenic air system prototype by optimizing the flow rate, increasing the tank storage capacity, and improving the efficiency of the heat exchanger of the cryogenic system. This may enable BIP RAs to meet the 35 °C (95 °F) AT limit in mines with elevated temperatures. The information in this paper is useful for RA manufacturers and mines that may choose to implement a cryogenic air system as a heat mitigation strategy.

Discussion on the Information-Based Teaching Method of Student-centered in Undergraduate Course–Take the Course of "Mine Emergency Rescue" as an Example

With the advent of the information and digital era, the "teacher-centered" teaching model will inevitably change to a "student-centered" teaching model. Students should play a major role in acquiring knowledge. This paper summarizes the connotation of "student-centered" in university teaching, the thoughts and theoretical basis of informatization teaching. This paper presents an information teaching model of student-centered, and takes the course of "Mine Emergency Rescue" as an example for teaching practice. It can improve the effect of learn that including the improving student participation, changing the learning method, and expanding the learning space. Moreover, the teaching model improves the quality of the course teaching.

Dynamic statistical evaluation of safety emergency management in coal enterprises based on neural network algorithms

By establishing the evaluation system of emergency management capability for coal mine enterprises, we can identify the problems and shortcomings in coal mine emergency management, improve and improve its emergency management capability for coal mine emergencies. In this paper, the authors analyze the dynamic statistical evaluation of safety emergency management in coal enterprises based on neural network algorithms. Neural networks can form any form of topological structure through neurons, so they can directly simulate fuzzy reasoning in structure, that is to say, the equivalent structure of neural networks and fuzzy systems can be formed. This paper constructs the index system based on accident causes, and verifies the scientific rationality of the system. On this basis, according to the specific situation of coal mine emergency management, we design the evaluation criteria of coal mine emergency management capability evaluation index. Because coal mine accidents have the characteristics of complexity, variability and sudden dynamic, it is necessary to adjust and improve the accidents dynamically at any time. The model combines qualitative and quantitative indicators, and can make an overall evaluation of coal mine emergency management capability. It has the characteristics of clear results and strong fitting of simulation results.

Analysis on Emergency Management of Coal Mine Safety Production in China

The working environment of coal mines is special and there are many dangerous sources, resulting in frequent accidents. As the demand for coal in the society increases, the depth of coal mining continues to deepen, and deep mining faces more security problems. This paper analyzes the relevant literatures of coal mine emergency management in recent years, clarifies the current situation of emergency management in China’s coal mines, points out the problems existing in China’s coal mine emergency management and suggestions for improving the overall level of coal mine emergency management, and provides reference for promoting the better development of coal mine safety production in China. Prevent more emergencies, reduce casualties and financial losses, and realize the transition from high-risk industries to the security industry at an early date.

Research on the Effects of the High Temperature and Humidity Environment on Human Comfort in Coal Mine Emergency Refuge System

A high temperature and humidity environment can be easily formed in a confined refuge system, which has a significant effect on the safety of refugees. Human survival experiments in a closed simulation chamber were carried out under high temperature and humidity conditions (the temperature was above 27 °C and the relative humidity was above 70%). The asymmetrical five-grade scale method was used first, and human comfort voting data were collected from 35 groups under different temperature and humidity conditions. A non-linear trend of the effects of different temperature and humidity conditions on human comfort was obtained through analysis, and the boundary curves for different human comfort conditions in a closed refuge chamber were determined. At the same time, a function prediction model of the apparent temperature was established, which had instructive meaning for the study and design of the environment controls and life support system in a closed rescue space for different fields.

Structure and Simulation of Roadway Disaster Simulation Control System for High Temperature Smoke Drill

In view of the outstanding problems of the training environment in the high-temperature smoke environment, such as failing to meet the actual combat requirements, poor effect and low efficiency, an integrated simulation exercise system of high-temperature smoke for coal mine emergency rescue is established, which mainly includes the high-temperature smoke control system and the smoke control system. The high temperature drill control system adopts PLC control temperature algorithm and introduces PID fuzzy control rule. The simulation results show that high accuracy of temperature and flue gas concentration can be achieved through PLC fuzzy PID control. The system can simulate the hot smoke environment and achieve the purpose of the actual exercise.

A multi-granularity proportional hesitant fuzzy linguistic TODIM method and its application to emergency decision making

Proportional hesitant fuzzy linguistic sets (PHFLSs), is a good way of representing uncertain assessment of decision makers. This paper focuses on extending the Interactive and Multiple Attribute Decision Making (TODIM) method into multi-granularity PHFLSs environment. We first propose a new ranking method and a normalized Hamming distance measure of multi-granularity PHFLSs, which can be used to measure and compare multi-granularity PHFLSs and is associated with lower computational complexity. Next, we develop the multi-granularity proportional hesitant linguistic TODIM approach, where the criteria weights are derived by using incomplete weight information. Finally, a case study on mine emergency decision making problem is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

The Field Model Construction and Analysis of Complex Mine Belt Fire Based on Personnel Evacuation Theory

In order to realize the visualization of the catastrophic law of mine belt fire on personnel evacuation theory, the complex roadway model is constructed by using the fire dynamic simulation software. The change of monitoring data such as temperature, smoke concentration and visibility is simulated in near-fire source of tape fire roadway. It is found that the main factors affecting the escape of personnel are smoke temperature, CO concentration and visibility in the mine tape fire. The first 100 s is a critical period for the smooth escape of the people on the wind side of the fire source after the tape fire. The high smoke temperature, high CO concentration and low visibility of the roadway seriously affect the escape of personnel after 150 s. At this time, the fire has developed into the flash-over stage. The parameters reach the critical value at 40 s with the 20% smoke concentration as the critical value in the roadway. It provides a reference for mine emergency rescue and fire escape.

Algorithms for Interval-Valued Pythagorean Fuzzy Sets in Emergency Decision Making Based on Multiparametric Similarity Measures and WDBA

Emergency decision making is critically important for countries or communities to enhance the effectiveness and validity of the emergency response, which can greatly lower environmental damage, casualties, and economic loss. In the case of emergency decision evaluation, the essential problems that arise serious inexactness, fuzziness, and ambiguity. Interval-valued Pythagorean fuzzy set (IVPFS), portrayed by membership and non-membership with the interval form, is an effective and flexible way to seize indeterminacy. In this paper, primarily, a novel score function for an interval-valued Pythagorean fuzzy number is initiated for managing some comparative issues. Then, a new distance measure for IVPFSs with multiple parameters is studied for solving the counter-intuitive situations. The interesting properties among the developed similarity measures, distance measures, and entropy have also been derived. Then, the objective weights of diverse attributes are ascertained by a novel entropy approach. Also, we explore the combination weight, which can reveal both objective preference and subjective preference. In addition, two interval-valued Pythagorean fuzzy decision making methods based on weighted distance-based approximation and multiparametric similarity measure are presented. Later, the validity of the algorithms is illustrated by a mine emergency decision making issue with the influence of diverse parameters on the ordering. Finally, a comparison with some existing decision making methods has been executed by the counter-intuitive phenomena and discrimination problems for verifying their effectiveness.

Effect of a Simulated Mine Rescue on Physiological Variables and Heat Strain of Mine Rescue Workers.

To describe physiological responses of mine rescuers during a simulated mine emergency. Body-worn monitors (n = 74) and core temperature (Tc) capsules (n = 54) assessed heart rate (HR), respiration rate (RR), energy expenditure (EE), oxygen consumption ((Equation is included in full-text article.)), Tc and skin temperature (Tskin), by team position and task. A multivariate analysis was performed with team positions, tasks, and measures as factors. HRmean and HRpeak were 78.6% and 94.5%, respectively, of predicted maximum heart rate. Arduous labor tasks elicited higher HR, RR, and (Equation is included in full-text article.)than casualty care. Captains exhibited lower HRmean, HRpeak, RR, RRpeak, (Equation is included in full-text article.), Tc, and Tskin compared with other positions. Tc mean exceeded 38.6 °C (n = 14 recorded Tc >39 °C). Captains' physical loading and heat stress were lowest. Nonetheless, all tasks and positions induced high physical load and heat strain.

Cognitive Task Analysis of Miner Preparedness to Self-Escape from Mine Emergencies

The consensus study report, Improving Self‐Escape from Underground Coal Mines (National Research Council, 2013), recommended detailed task analysis of the tasks that miners must perform to successfully self-escape during an emergency in an underground coal mine. In response, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) funded a study to accomplish this work. This paper focuses on the cognitive task analysis (CTA) portion of this effort. We discuss the methods we used and results-based recommendations to enhance the likelihood that miners can successfully escape from underground emergencies.

An emergency rescue communication system and environmental monitoring subsystem for underground coal mine based on wireless mesh network

According to the characteristics of the underground coal mine roadway structure and disaster environment, this article proposes an underground emergency rescue communication system based on wireless mesh network and its corresponding environmental monitoring subsystem. We design the structures of the emergency rescue communication system and the wireless mesh nodes. The nodes are designed with intrinsic safety features. The work also develops wireless multi-parameter environmental monitoring terminals, and sets up the software platform for the environmental monitoring subsystem. The developed underground coal mine emergency rescue communication system based on wireless mesh network and environmental monitoring subsystem are tested both on the ground and in a real underground roadway environment. Experimental results from the testing show that the signal strength is -45 dBm on average, and the bandwidth attenuation of each hop is less than 10%, the transmission delay after the 11th hop is only 14 ms. The developed emergency rescue communication system is functionally stable, the environmental monitoring subsystem is capable of performing real-time monitoring of various underground environmental parameters, and achieves high accuracy in monitoring.

A Dynamic Weight Determination Approach Based on the Intuitionistic Fuzzy Bayesian Network and Its Application to Emergency Decision Making

The weight information has been playing a key role in information fusion and dynamic decision making process. Most existing methods for determining weights under dynamic environments only derive the period weights by using the distribution functions of time series, but there is little investigation of the determination of dynamic attribute weights over time. To solve this issue, we first develop an intuitionistic fuzzy Bayesian network to obtain the practical attribute weights under uncertain environment. Then, we propose a conceptual framework for dynamic intuitionistic fuzzy decision making, and based on which, we develop a dynamic decision making approach integrating the prospect theory to solve the risk decision making problems. Furthermore, a case study involving the mine emergency decision making problem is presented to illustrate the application of our approach. Finally, we discuss the characteristics and limitations of our approach in detail.

A process mining approach to improve emergency rescue processes of fatal gas explosion accidents in Chinese coal mines

Gas explosion has always been one of the major accident types in the coal mines of China, and reliable emergency rescue process is one of the key guarantees to minimize accident losses. As an emerging discipline to discover bottlenecks and position deviations of processes, process mining is widely used to improve various business processes in recent years. Nevertheless, scarcely does any research apply it to the field of coal mine emergency rescue to our knowledge. In this study, we apply the technique of process mining to domain of gas explosion accident emergency rescue in coal mines. 50 considerable and major gas explosion accidents, which occurred from the second half of 2006–2014 in Chinese coal mines, are selected as log data. The aspects of control-flow perspective, case perspective, helicopter view, organizational dimension and performance perspective are analyzed by process mining. In terms of control-flow perspective, the emergency rescue model is extracted by the inductive miner in ProM, correspondingly, conformance checking and comparison with real-life model have shown the validity of our work. Research also shows that the average length of cases is 23.72 events, and 60% of the cases are under the average length; 56% of the gas explosion accident emergency rescue processes last less than two days; emergency rescue headquarters, barmaster and medical staff share the highest centrality in social network of rescue; the rescue performance is more affected by accident grade, compared with the factors of accident site, region of coal mine and coal mine ownership.

Algorithms for interval-valued fuzzy soft sets in emergency decision making based on WDBA and CODAS with new information measure.

This paper aims to give deeper insights into decision making problem based on interval-valued fuzzy soft set (IVFSS). Firstly, a new score function for interval-valued fuzzy number is proposed for tackling the comparison problem. Subsequently, the formulae of information measures (distance measure, similarity measure and entropy) are introduced and their transformation relations are pioneered. Then, the objective weights of various parameters are determined via new entropy method, meanwhile, we develop the combined weights, which can show both the subjective information and the objective information. Moreover, we propose three algorithms to solve interval-valued fuzzy soft decision making problem by Weighted Distance Based Approximation (WDBA), COmbinative Distance-based ASsessment (CODAS) and similarity measure. Finally, the effectiveness and feasibility of approaches are demonstrated by a mine emergency decision making problem. The salient features of the proposed methods, compared to the existing interval-valued fuzzy soft decision making methods, are (1) it can obtain the optimal alternative without counterintuitive phenomena; (2) it has a great power in distinguishing the optimal alternative; and (3) it can avoid the parameter selection problems.

New Operations for Interval-valued Pythagorean Fuzzy Set

Interval-valued Pythagorean fuzzy set (IVPFS), originally proposed by Peng and Yang, is a novel tool to deal with vagueness and incertitude. As a generalized set, IVPFS has closerelationship with interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy set (IVIFS). IVPFS can be reduced to IVIFS satisfying thecondition $\mu^++\nu^+ \leq 1$. However, the related operations of IVPFS do not take different conditionsinto consideration. In this paper, we initiate some new interval-valued Pythagorean fuzzy operators ($\diamondsuit, \Box, \spadesuit, \clubsuit, \maltese, \rightarrow, \$ $) and discuss their properties in relation with some existing operators $(\cup, \cap, \oplus, \otimes)$ in detail. It will promote the development of interval-valued Pythagorean fuzzy operators. Later, we propose an algorithm to deal with multi-attribute decision making (MADM) problem based on proposed $\spadesuit$ operator. Finally, the effectiveness and feasibility of approach isdemonstrated by mine emergency decision making example.

Study on Mine Emergency Mechanism based on TARP and ICS

By analyzing the experiences and practices of mine emergency in China and abroad, especially the United States and Australia, normative principle, risk management principle and adaptability principle of constructing mine emergency mechanism based on Trigger Action Response Plans (TARP) and Incident Command System (ICS) are summarized. Classification method, framework, flow and subject of TARP and ICS which are suitable for the actual situation of domestic mine emergency are proposed. The system dynamics model of TARP and ICS is established. The parameters such as evacuation ratio, response rate, per capita emergency capability and entry rate of rescuers are set up. By simulating the operation process of TARP and ICS, the impact of these parameters on the emergency process are analyzed, which could provide a reference and basis for building emergency capacity, formulating emergency plans and setting up action plans in the emergency process.