- Author
- Pomroy, W. H.
- Title
- Spontaneous Combustion Fire Detection for Deep Metal Mines.
- Coporate
- Bureau of Mines, Pittsburgh, PA
- Report
- RI 9144, 1987, 29 p.
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Keywords
- mine fires | spontaneous combustion | fire detection
- Identifiers
- detection systems
- Abstract
- Spontaneous combustion fires involving high-sulfide-content ores are a relatively infrequent, yet serious, safety hazard in mining. They are also the cause of lengthy mine shutdowns because they typically occur in areas of mine where abundant fuel material is present but which are inaccessible for fire fighting. This report describes research to design, fabricate, and test in the laboratory and field a system that warns of spontaneous combustion fires in metal mines. Overall performance of the detection system was found to satisfactory, in that the system was capable of reliably detecting low levels of combustion products believed to indicate the preflaming stage of spontaneous combustion in metal mines. Installation of similar systems in mines with a high risk of spontaneous combustion is recommended.