TY - GEN
T1 - Post-accident mine communications and tracking systems
AU - Novak, Thomas
AU - Snyder, David P.
AU - Kohler, Jeffery L.
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - Recent mine disasters in the United States exposed various inadequacies and gaps in mine-safety technology. Congress responded to these tragedies by enacting the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2006 (MINER Act), which resulted in the most significant change to mine-safety laws in 30 years. To help meet the requirements of the MINER Act and to help eliminate future tragedies, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) initiated aggressive research programs for developing new, and enhancing existing, mine-safety technologies. A major research emphasis addressed the lack of postaccident communications, which surfaced as a critical deficiency in some disasters. As a result, three communications approaches emerged as viable technologies - enhanced leaky-feeder, wireless-mesh, and medium-frequency systems. This paper describes the operation, application, advantages, and disadvantages of each system, as well as the challenges associated with underground wireless communications.
AB - Recent mine disasters in the United States exposed various inadequacies and gaps in mine-safety technology. Congress responded to these tragedies by enacting the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2006 (MINER Act), which resulted in the most significant change to mine-safety laws in 30 years. To help meet the requirements of the MINER Act and to help eliminate future tragedies, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) initiated aggressive research programs for developing new, and enhancing existing, mine-safety technologies. A major research emphasis addressed the lack of postaccident communications, which surfaced as a critical deficiency in some disasters. As a result, three communications approaches emerged as viable technologies - enhanced leaky-feeder, wireless-mesh, and medium-frequency systems. This paper describes the operation, application, advantages, and disadvantages of each system, as well as the challenges associated with underground wireless communications.
KW - Mine communications
KW - Mine disasters
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=72849144798&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=72849144798&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/IAS.2009.5324810
DO - 10.1109/IAS.2009.5324810
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:72849144798
SN - 9781424434763
T3 - Conference Record - IAS Annual Meeting (IEEE Industry Applications Society)
BT - 2009 IEEE Industry Applications Society Annual Meeting
T2 - 2009 IEEE Industry Applications Society Annual Meeting
Y2 - 4 October 2008 through 8 October 2008
ER -