AAAR 34th Annual Conference
October 12 - October 16, 2015
Hyatt Regency
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Abstract View
Performance of Wireless Distributed Sensors for Automated Control of Float Dust in Underground Coal Mines
OMID MAHDAVIPOUR, Timothy Mueller-Sim, Dorsa Fahimi, Croshere Skot, Pilatsch Pit, Jusuf Merukh, Valentino Zegna, Paul A. Solomon, Paul Wright, Richard White, Lara Gundel, Igor Paprotny, University of Illinois at Chicago
Abstract Number: 581 Working Group: Instrumentation and Methods
Abstract Underground coal mining produces finely divided coal dust, called ‘float dust’, which deposits throughout the coal mine. This combustible material can be feedstock for coal dust explosions. Limestone powder, known as ‘rock dust’, is used widely as an inerting agent, which when dispersed throughout the mine will quench a potential explosion at its onset. The ratio of total incombustible mass (rock dust + incombustible content of coal dust) divided by total mass of the deposited dust is called the Total Incombustible Content (TIC) of the deposited dust stack. Mine safety regulations specify minimal TIC for both intake and return airways.
We present research towards a low-cost/low-power wirelessly enabled distributed sensing system that potentially can be located throughout the underground coal mine to continuously monitor the TIC of the deposited dust. The sensors will use continuous optical, gravimetric, and dielectrometric methods to measure the TIC of the deposited stack of float dust/rock dust. A low power design has been developed to enable the proposed sensors to operate for extended periods underground on a single battery charge. The sensors have been designed to periodically refresh the collection surface to mitigate dust accumulation impairing the optical path. The sensor housing has been designed to optimize the efficacy of the sensors, and a prototype has been developed and constructed using fused deposition modeling (FDM). We present the experimental results from testing the sensor prototypes in a realistic test bed, subjected to the deposition of the coal dust/rock dust mixture. The sensor performance and stability at different humidity levels is evaluated, and the potential for such distributed suite of sensors for measuring TIC in underground coal mines is assessed.