2017-Sustainable Industrial Processing Summit
SIPS 2017 Volume 4. Lotter Intl. Symp. / Mineral Processing
| Editors: | Kongoli F, Bradshaw D, Waters K, Starkey J, Silva AC |
| Publisher: | Flogen Star OUTREACH |
| Publication Year: | 2017 |
| Pages: | 226 pages |
| ISBN: | 978-1-987820-67-6 |
| ISSN: | 2291-1227 (Metals and Materials Processing in a Clean Environment Series) |
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The Micon Hybrid II, 50-psi, Mine Ventilation Seal with Access Door
Stephen Sawyer1; George Watson2; David Hussey2;1SAWYER ENGINEERING, McMurray, United States; 2MICON, INC., Glassport, United States;
Type of Paper: Regular
Id Paper: 125
Topic: 4
Abstract:
Bituminous coal has been historically the primary fuel for generating steam and continues to be used worldwide in that capacity today. Coal is also vital in the production of steel. The hazards of mining coal underground have been minimized in recent years because of innovations in safety. However, fires and explosions (e.g., Moura No. 2 Mine gas explosion, Australia, 1994, and Upper Big Branch South Mine No. 1 gas explosion, 2010)) are ever-present, underground, safety hazards, against which modern, mine ventilation seals are designed to mitigate. Mine ventilation seals isolate mined-out areas from active, mine workings, preventing explosive gasses from the former to migrate into the latter. These structures are also employed to isolate a mine fire, enabling the fire to burn itself out and to provide underground, refuge rooms. A maximum overpressure rating required for a mine ventilation seal under certain conditions is 50-psi in many countries, like mainline seals in Australia and gob-isolation seals the United States. MICON, Inc. of Glassport, Pennsylvania, USA, has developed the world's first, 50-psi, mine ventilation seal with an integral, access door. The integral, access door enables either the abandoned area or a fire-isolated area of a coal mine to be re-entered for inspection, which was never possible before. The MICON, Hybrid II, 50-psi mine ventilation seal with access door has been approved by the U. S. Mine Safety and Health Administration. This seal is a recent variant to the seal, which was awarded U.S. Patent No. 8,342,776, Australian Patent Nos. 2008261894 and 200909379, and other international patents. In this paper, the construction of the MICON Hybrid II, 50-psi, mine ventilation seal with access door is presented.