Simtars director Stewart Bell said research funds of about $230,000 from the Australian Coal Association Research Program (ACARP) would support several key mine safety research projects at Simtars' Redbank centre.

 

"In one of the projects we will be investigating testing facilities for mine ventilation devices and explosion barrier components," he said.

 

In some areas of the mine, these stoppings must be strong enough to withstand an explosion and permit the maintenance of mine ventilation to facilitate mines rescue activities.

 

"At present, Australian manufacturers must send stopping materials and components to the USA for testing, and this is very expensive. Our research will focus on designing a local facility to test full scale stoppings in Australia," Bell said.

 

Another project will focus on designing equipment to detect specific gaseous products associated with the early heating of coal in underground mines.

 

"The sooner these indicators of potential spontaneous combustion are noticed, the better. If we can detect the initiation of a spontaneous combustion early, we can take steps to control it, and eliminate any potential for fires or explosions in the mine," Bell said

 

"This project is an extension of our electronic nose project in which Simtars modified an existing device to detect the gases that are associated with spontaneous combustion events."

 

In the third ACARP-funded project Simtars is investigating the development of a method for the assessment of active intrinsically safe power supplies. These types of power supplies are used extensively in underground coal mines to drive communications and monitoring systems.

 

The current evaluation method requires time-consuming testing. The new testing protocol under development will substantially reduce this time and reduce costs to the equipment manufacturer.

 

Bell said the Australian mining industry was rapidly improving safety and productivity through the use of technology, and Simtars' role was to facilitate this process.

 

Other on-going projects related to mine safety include a study to assess key features for an underground mines rescue vehicle and development of a robot to explore underground mines after a disaster.

 

* Simtars is one of Queensland's leading organisations for health, safety and environmental testing and consulting to the mining industry. It is a division of the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines