Advancing respirable coal mine dust source apportionment:a preliminary laboratory exploration of optical microscopy as a novel monitoring tool

Exposure to respirable coal mine dust(RCMD)can cause chronic and debilitating lung diseases.Real-time monitoring capabilities are sought which can enable a better understanding of dust components and sources.In many underground mines,RCMD includes three primary components which can be loosely associated with three major dust sources:coal dust from the coal seam itself,silicates from the surrounding rock strata,and carbonates from the inert‘rock dust’products that are applied to mitigate explosion hazards.A monitor which can reliably partition RCMD between these three components could thus allow source apportionment.And tracking silicates,specifically,could be valuable since the most serious health risks are typically associated with this component-particularly if abundant in crystalline silica.Envisioning a monitoring concept based on field microscopy,and following up on prior research using polarized light,the aim of the current study was to build and test a model to classify respirable-sized particles as either coal,silicates,or carbonates.For model development,composite dust samples were generated in the laboratory by successively depositing dust from high-purity materials onto a sticky transparent substrate,and imaging after each deposition event such that the identity of each particle was known a priori.Model testing followed a similar approach,except that real geologic materials were used as the source for each dust component.Results showed that the model had an overall accuracy of 86.5%,indicating that a field-microscopy based moni-tor could support RCMD source apportionment and silicates tracking in some coal mines.

The study of coal mine equipment’s comprehensive evaluation index system and evaluation method

Equipment management is one of the important parts of business administra- tion of coal. Most of coal mines take no account of their equipment management, and have no comprehensive and effective evaluation index system. Based on the analysis of the equipment evaluation measures of reform and the applications, the paper built up a comprehensive and effective evaluation index system of coal mine equipment, and im- proved the evaluation method with the use of fuzzy theory, analytic hierarchy process and entropy method.

Smart industrial IoT empowered crowd sensing for safety monitoring in coal mine

The crowd sensing technology can realize the sensing and computing of people,machines,and environment in smart industrial IoT-based coal mine,which provides a solution for safety monitoring through distributed intelligence optimization.However,due to the difficulty of neural network training to achieve global optimality and the fact that traditional LSTM methods do not consider the relationship between adjacent machines,the accuracy of human body position prediction and pressure value prediction is not high.To solve these problems,this paper proposes a smart industrial IoT empowered crowd sensing for safety monitoring in coal mine.First,we propose a Particle Swarm Optimization-Elman Neural Network(PE)algorithm for the mobile human position prediction.Second,we propose an ADI-LSTM neural network prediction algorithm for pressure values of machines supports in underground mines.Among them,our proposed PE algorithm has the lowest average cumulative prediction error,and the trajectory fit rate is improved by 24.1%,13.9%and 8.7%compared with Kalman filtering,Elman and Kalman plus Elman algorithms,respectively.Meanwhile,compared with single-input ARIMA,RNN,LSTM,and GRU,the RMSE values of our proposed ADI-LSTM are reduced by 36.6%,52%,32%,and 13.7%,respectively;and the MAPE values are reduced by 0.0003%,0.9482%,1.1844%,and 0.3620%,respectively.

Analysis of the Risk of Water Breakout in the Bottom Plate of High-Intensity Mining of Extra-Thick Coal Seams

In order to clarify the danger of water breakout in the bottom plate of extra-thick coal seam mining, 2202 working face of a mine in the west is taken as the research object, and it is proposed to use the on-site monitoring means combining borehole peeping and microseismic monitoring, combined with the theoretical analysis to analyze the danger of water breakout in the bottom plate. The results show that: 1) the theoretically calculated maximum damage depth of the bottom plate is 27.5 m, and its layer is located above the Austrian ash aquifer, which has the danger of water breakout;2) the drill hole peeping at the bottom plate of the working face shows that the depth of the bottom plate fissure development reaches 26 m, and the integrity of the water barrier layer has been damaged, so there is the risk of water breakout;3) for the microseismic monitoring of the anomalous area, the bottom plate of the return air downstream channel occurs in the field with a one-week lag, which shows that microseismic monitoring events may reflect the water breakout of the underground. This shows that the microseismic monitoring events can reflect the changes of the underground flow field, which can provide a reference basis for the early warning of water breakout. The research results can provide reference for the prediction of sudden water hazard.

The safety parameters monitoring system for the coal mine based on CAN bus communication and intelligent data acquisition

In this paper,a monitoring and controlling system for the safety in production and environmental parameters of a small and medium-sized coal mine has been developed after analyzing the current domestic coal production and security conditions. The client computer can convert the analog signal about the safety in production and environmental parameters detected from the monitoring terminal into digital signal,and then,send the signal to the coal mine safety monitoring centre. This information can be analyzed,judged,and diagnosed by the monitoring-management-controlling software for helping the manager and technical workers to control the actual underground production and security situations. The system has many advantages including high reliability,better performance of real-time monitoring,faster data communicating and good practicability,and it can effectively prevent the occurrence of safety incidents in coal mines.

EFT/B interference transmission model and method of anti-interference in a coal mine monitoring substation

Coal mining monitoring system has been enforcing tests for the immunity of Electromagnetic Compatibility(EMC) since 2006.However,not all monitoring substations can pass the Electrical Fast Transient/Burst(EFT/B) immunity test and the explosion-proof test simultaneously.In order to enhance EMC,the EFT/B interfere transmission model was presented at the substation power port,after the EFT/B test method was used to analyze the monitoring substation power ports.Hence,a low-pass filter was designed by using the simulation software PIPICE and an anti-jamming method was proposed by way of a parallel connection of the discharge interfere circuit and the low-pass filter.The improved complex EMI filter was made up of an interference discharge device and a filter.The dynamic equivalent circuit was proposed for the EFT/B immunity test.As a result,the monitoring substation has passed the EFT/B immunity and explosion-proof tests with the complex filter.It is concluded that the complex EMI filter has significantly enhanced the immunity of the coal mining monitoring system.

Gas concentration monitoring system for small and medium-sized coal mines based on gas-sensing detection and single-chip control

This paper is aimed at the actual conditions of disaster caused by gas in small and medium-sized coal mines. A new gas concentration monitoring system for coal mines is developed on the basis of gas-sensing detection and single-chip control. The monitoring system uses the tin oxide as the main material of N-type semiconductor gas sensors, be- cause it has good sensitive characteristics for the flammable and explosive gas （ such as methane, carbon monoxide）. The QM-N5-semiconductor gas sensor is adopted to detect the output values of the resistance under the different gas con- centrations. The system, designedly, takes the AT89C51 digital chip as the core of the circuit processing hardware structure to analyze and judge the input values of the resistance, and then achieve the control and alarm for going beyond the limit of gas concentration. The gas concentration monitoring system has man）, advantages including simple in struc- ture, fast response time, stable performance and low cost. Thus, it can be widely used to monitor gas concentration and provide early wamings in small and medium-sized coal mines.

Mechanics of rib deformation—Observations and monitoring in Australian coal mines

The risk of fatalities from rib failure is still prevalent in the coal mining industry. This risk has prompted further research to be conducted on rib deformation in order to understand the mechanisms of rib failure,with the long-term objective being to improve rib support design. This paper presents the results of ACARP research project C25057, which investigated the mechanics and drivers of rib failure. The results of rib deformation monitoring at three different mines in Australia provide rib deformation characteristics for overburden depths ranging from 160 to 530 m. Monitoring includes deformation during development drivage conditions and during the longwall retreat abutment stress environment. The rib deformation monitoring covered three different seams: the Goonyella Middle Seam, Ulan Seam, and Bulli Seam in the Bowen Basin, Western Coalfield, and Southern Coalfield, respectively. The observed mechanisms driving the rib deformation ranged from bedding shear failure along weak claystone bands to vertical shear fractures to kinematic failures driven by shear failure dilation. The variation in mechanisms of rib failure, together with the seemingly consistent method of rib support design, prompts the question: what exactly is the role of rib support?

Risk monitoring and early-warning technology of coal mine production

This article was written according to the secudty information theory and the secudty cybernetics basic principle, for reducing the accident risk effectively and safeguarding the production safety in coal mine. First, each kind of risk characteristic has carried on the earnest analysis to the coal-mining production process. Then it proposed entire wrap technology system of the risk management and the risk monitoring early warning in the coal-mining production process, and developed the application software-coal mine risk monitoring and the early warning system which runs on the local area network. The coal-mining production risk monitoring and early warning technology system includes risk information gathering, risk identification and management, risk information transmission; saving and analysis, early warning prompt of accident risk, safety dynamic monitoring, and safety control countermeasure and so on. The article specifies implementation method and step of this technology system, and introduces application situations in cooperating mine enterprise, e.g. Xiezhuang coal mine. It may supply the risk management and the accident prevention work of each kind of mine reference.

Comprehensive Evaluation of Coal Resource of Two Coal Mines in Jining

The evaluation system for coal resources was established and a related software was programmed based on some former achievements and actual situation of the research area. And the evaluating calculation and data processing were also conducted. The result indicates that in the research area, the resource condition of the 3rd lower coal seam falls in the classes of "good" to "middle". In space, the south and the east parts is better than the north and the west parts. And the east part is suitable for the recent and the near future exploitation and the west part for the long dated exploitation. The distribution regularity of geologic structure and the stability of thickness of coal seams should be studied carefully and more exploration project in the west part should be carried out. The above achievements are significant in the exploitation of coal resource in this region.

Short-term warning and integrity monitoring algorithm for coal mine shaft safety

A new short-term warning and integrity monitoring algorithm was proposed for coal mine shaft safety. The Kalman filter (KF) model was used to extract real global positioning system (GPS) kinematic deformation information. The short-term warning model was built by using the two-side cumulative sum (CUSUM) test, which further improves the warning system reliability. Availability (the minimum warning deformation, MWD), false alarm rate (the average run length, ARL), missed rate (the warning delay, WD) and the relationships among them were analyzed and the method choosing warning parameters is given. A test of a deformation simulation platform shows that the warning algorithm can be effectively used for steep deformation warning. A field experiment of the Malan mine shaft in Shanxi coal area illustrates that the proposed algorithm can detect small dynamic changes and the corresponding occurring time. At given warning thresholds (MWD is 15 mm and ARL is 1000),the detected deformations of two consecutive days’ deformation sequences with the algorithm occur at the 705th epoch (705 s) and the 517th epoch (517 s), respectively.

Simulation of Paleotectonic Stress Fields and Distribution Prediction of Tectonic Fractures at the Hudi Coal Mine, Qinshui Basin

Study on tectonic fractures based on the inversion of tectonic stress fields is an effective method. In this study, a geological model was set up based on geological data from the Hudi Coal Mine, Qinshui Basin, a mechanical model was established under the condition of rock mechanics and geostress, and the finite element method was used to simulate the paleotectonic stress field. Based on the Griffith and Mohr-Coulomb criterion, the distribution of tectonic fractures in the Shanxi Formation during the Indosinian, Yanshanian, and Himalayan period can be predicted with the index of comprehensive rupture rate. The results show that the acting force of the Pacific Plate and the India Plate to the North China Plate formed the direction of principal stress is N-S, NW - SE, and NE - SW, respectively, in different periods in the study area. Changes in the direction and strength of the acting force led to the regional gradients of tectonic stress magnitude, which resulted in an asymmetrical distribution state of the stress conditions in different periods. It is suggested that the low-stress areas are mainly located in the fault zones and extend along the direction of the fault zones. Furthermore, the high-stress areas are located in the junction of fold belts and the binding site of multiple folds. The development of tectonic fractures was affected by the distribution of stress intensity and the tectonic position of folds and faults, which resulted in some developed areas with level I and II. There are obvious differences in the development of tectonic fractures in the fold and fault zones and the anticline and syncline structure at the same fold zones. The tectonic fractures of the Shanxi Formation during the Himalayan period are more developed than those during the Indosinian and Yanshanian period due to the superposition of the late tectonic movement to the early tectonic movement and the differences in the magnitude and direction of stress intensity.

Mechanism and monitoring and early warning technology for rockburst in coal mines

On the basis of the massive amount of published literature and the long-term practice of our research group in the field of prevention and control of rockburst,the research progress and shortcomings in understanding the rockburst phenomenon have been comprehensively in-vestigated.This study focuses on the occurrence mechanism and monitoring and early warning technology for rockburst in coal mines.Results showed that the prevention and control of rockburst had made significant progress.However,with the increasing mining depth,several unre-solved concerns remain challenging.From the in-depth research and analysis,it can be inferred that rockburst disasters involve three main problems,i.e.,the induction factors are complicated,the mechanism is still unclear,and the accuracy of the monitoring equipment and multi-source stereo monitoring technology is insufficient.The monitoring and warning standards of rockburst need to be further clarified and im-proved.Combined with the Internet of Things,cloud computing,and big data,a study of the trend of rockburst needs to be conducted.Further-more,the mechanism of multiphase and multi-field coupling induced by rockburst on a large scale needs to be explored.A multisystem and multiparameter integrated monitoring and early warning system and remote monitoring cloud platform for rockburst should be explored and developed.High-reliability sensing technology and equipment and perfect monitoring and early warning standards are considered to be the de-velopment direction of rockburst in the future.This research will help experts and technicians adopt effective measures for controlling rock-burst disasters.

Improved complex filter applied in enhancing EFT/B immunity at a coal mine monitoring substation

A monitoring system is an important guarantee of safety in a production mine. However, not all monitoring substations pass the electrical fast transient/burst （EFT/B） immunity test and the explosion-proof test simultaneously. To enhance the immunity, the values of capacitance and inductance should be increased, which are actually limited by coal mine explosion-proof standards. Hence, for the first time, an active filter was applied in an electromagnetic interference （EMI） output filter. As a result, the interference within 30 MHz clearly weakened, but the frequency spectrum had a wide range. An EMI input filter and ferrite beads were adopted to restrain higher frequency interference. An output interference spectrogram of the substation was obtained with an analyzer. The results indicate that the improved complex filtering markedly help to control interference. With the support of improved complex filtering and other enhancing immunity means about I/O ports, the substation managed to pass both the EFT/B immunity test and the explosion-proof test synchronously. We conclude that improved complex filtering is of vital importance in enhancing the electromagnetic compatibilitv （EMC） of the coal mine monitoring system.

Proposing a novel comprehensive evaluation model for the coal burst liability in underground coal mines considering uncertainty factors

Coal burst is a severe hazard that can result in fatalities and damage of facilities in underground coal mines.To address this issue,a robust unascertained combination model is proposed to study the coal burst hazard based on an updated database.Four assessment indexes are used in the model,which are the dynamic failure duration(DT),elastic energy index(WET),impact energy index(KE)and uniaxial compressive strength(RC).Four membership functions,including linear(L),parabolic(P),S and Weibull(W)functions,are proposed to measure the uncertainty level of individual index.The corresponding weights are determined through information entropy(EN),analysis hierarchy process(AHP)and synthetic weights(CW).Simultaneously,the classification criteria,including unascertained cluster(UC)and credible identification principle(CIP),are analyzed.The combination algorithm,consisting of P function,CW and CIP(P-CW-CIP),is selected as the optimal classification model in function of theory analysis and to train the samples.Ultimately,the established ensemble model is further validated through test samples with 100%accuracy.The results reveal that the hybrid model has a great potential in the coal burst hazard evaluation in underground coal mines.

A model of unsafe behavior in coal mines based on game theory

Behavior choice, coal mine monitoring, and control intensity are combined in a general mathematical model established from the perspective of a behavioral game. A case study is provided with effective conditions of monitoring provided. This paper defines the expected value difference of control return and behavior cost difference and discusses the measurement and optimization of variable indexes, including the monitoring intensity and costs of control. The results imply that the control of unsafe behavior can be more effective when monitoring and control of coal mines are both improved. Monitoring will be useful when the rewards for displaying safe behavior, and the monitoring of unsafe behavior, are improved to a high level.

Fire monitoring in coal mines using wireless underground sensor network and interval type-2 fuzzy logic controller

From the view of underground coal mining safety system, it is extremely important to continuous monitoring of coal mines for the prompt detection of fires or related problems inspite of its uncertainty and imprecise characteristics. Therefore, evaluation and inferring the data perfectly to prevent fire related accidental risk in underground coal mining (UMC) system are very necessary. In the present article, we have proposed a novel type-2 fuzzy logic system (T2FLS) for the prediction of fire intensity and its risk assessment for risk reduction in an underground coal mine. Recently, for the observation of underground coal mines, wireless underground sensor network (WUSN) are being concerned frequently. To implement this technique IT2FLS, main functional components are sensor nodes which are installed in coal mines to accumulate different imprecise environmental data like, temperature, relative humidity, different gas concentrations etc. and these are sent to a base station which is connected to the ground observation system through network. In the present context, a WUSN based fire monitoring system is developed using fuzzy logic approach to enhance the consistency in decision making system to improve the risk chances of fire during coal mining. We have taken Mamdani IT2FLS as fuzzy model on coal mine monitoring data to consider real-time decision making (DM). It is predicted from the simulated results that the recommended system is highly acceptable and amenable in the case of fire hazard safety with compared to the wired and off-line monitoring system for UMC. Legitimacy of the suggested model is prepared using statistical analysis and multiple linear regression analysis.

Preparation of Lightweight Alumina-silica Castables by Replacing Closed-cell Perlite Aggregates with Coal Gangue Ceramsites

Lightweight alumina-silica castables were prepared using closed-cell perlite(2-4 mm),open-cell perlite(4-6 mm)and coal gangue ceramsites(2-5 mm)as aggregates,floating beads(0.3-0.5 mm),sinking beads(0.6-0.8 mm),silica micropowder,α-Al_(2)O_(3) micropowder,zirconia and zircon micropowder as fines,and Secar 71 cement(calcium aluminate cement)as the binder.The effects of the coal gangue ceramsites addition(0,6%,12%,18%and 24%,by mass)on the properties of the as-prepared lightweight alumina-silica castables were investigated.The results show that:(1)the addition of coal gangue ceramsites can reduce the sintering shrinkage of the specimens and help to improve the strength and thermal shock resistance;(2)the samples with the addition of coal gangue ceramsites can produce pores in the matrix of the sintered samples,which provides enough space for the growth of CA6 complex solid solution and expands the irregular lamellar structure;(3)with the addition of coal gangue ceramsites increasing,the linear shrinkage of the samples heat treated at 1000 or 1200℃firstly reduces and then increases,the bulk density increases and the apparent porosity decreases;the cold compression strength and the thermal shock resistance of the specimens heat treated at 1200℃firstly increase and then decrease.Thus,the optimal addition of coal gangue ceramsites is 18%.

A comparative study of dust control practices in Chinese and Australian longwall coal mines

Mine dust is one of the main hazards in underground longwall mines worldwide.In order to solve the mine dust problem,a significant number of studies have been carried out regarding longwall mine dust control,both in China and Australia.This paper presents a comparative study of dust control practices in Chinese and Australian longwall mines,with particular references to statutory limits,dust monitoring methods and dust management practices,followed by a brief discussion on the research status of longwall mine dust control in both countries.The study shows that water infusion,face ventilation controls,water sprays,and deep and wet cutting in longwall shearer operations are commonly practiced in almost all underground longwall mines and that both Chinese and Australian longwall mine dust control practices have their own advantages and disadvantages.It is concluded that there is a need for further development and innovative design of more effective dust mitigation products or systems despite the development of various dust control technologies.Based on the examinations and discussions,the authors have made some recommendations for further research and development in dust control in longwall mines.It is hoped that this comparative study will provide beneficial guidance for scholars and engineers who are engaging in longwall mine dust control research and practice.

Applicable conditions for a classification system of aquifer-protective mining in hallow coal seams

Based on the conclusions of domestic and foreign research, we have analyzed the collapse-fall characteristics of overlying strata and the mechanism of aquifer-protective mining in shallow coal seam working faces at the Shendong Mine. We have selected the height of the water-conducting fracture zone in overlying strata as a composite index and established the applicable conditions of aquifer-protective mining in shallow coal seams with a multi-factor synthetic-index classification method. From our calculations and analyses of variance, we used factors such as the overlying strata strength, mining disturbing factors and rock integrity as related factors of the composite index. We have classified the applicable conditions of aquifer-protective mining in shallow coal seams into seven types by comparing the result of the height of water-conducting fractured zones of long-wall and short-wall working faces with the thickness of the bedrock, the thickness of the weathered zone and the size of safety coal-rock pillars. As a result, we propose the preliminary classification system of aquifer-protective mining in shallow coal seams. It can provide a theoretical guidance for safe applications of aquifer-protective mining technology in shallow coal seams under similar conditions.