MineARC Systems has released the 4HRM-PLP, a four person hard rock mine powerless portable refuge chamber.
According to the company, the chamber is designed to provide miners working in single entry headings with access to a safe and effective means of refuge in the event of an emergency.
Jumbo drillers and other operators working ahead of boggers and trucks within single entry headings, have raised the contentious issue: how to ensure these workers are not cut off from safe-refuge should an emergency situation such as fire, explosion and subsequent smoke and gas occur?
Practices such as halting work on trucks and boggers until jumbo operators are clear, as well as escape shafts, have been tried - neither achieving any great practical success, whilst at the same time effecting productivity.
Of major concern to industry is the irresponsible practice of using vehicles as make-shift refuge chambers, by supplying breathable air to the vehicle’s occupants via compressed air cylinders and face masks. Numerous inherent problems associated with this method include:
Over the past 2 years, MineARC has refined its standard HRM 4 person refuge chamber to allow greater scope in mobility, although ultimately the size and electrical requirements have limited its success.
The chamber measures 1.5m high x 1.8m long x 1.8m wide – easily loaded onto the back of a flat-bed truck and then transported to virtually any location.
The unit can then be loaded off the truck using an IT (Integrated Tool-carrier) and placed directly at the working face.
The chamber utilises the company’s intrinsically-safe (non-electrically powered) scrubber/air-conditioning system.
The powerless scrubber removes carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide from inside the refuge chamber, whilst also cooling the interior of the chamber via the air-con unit.
The scrubber/air-con requires no electrical power supply, eliminating the need for external electrical services to be supplied to the refuge chamber.