Research, Technological Innovations and Human Factors for Effective Miner Self-Escape from Underground Mine Emergencies

Problem Statement Design in engineering is deeply related to cost, efficiency and functionality. Successful implementation requires knowing the environment or working conditions of the element or system being designed. Underground coal mines require critical components be designed to resist explosions, such as mine ventilation seals, or to mitigate their effects such as refuge alternatives. The first step in the design of survivable or resilient elements is to determine the characteristics and parameters of the explosion. The use of extreme values in the design will produce expensive solutions with low efficiency and lack of functionality. One example which used extreme values for design is the control command from one of the through the earth communication systems (Figure 1). It was determined that the system can survive an explosion, but its weight and functionality has made this technology difficult to adopt by the mining industry despite its invaluable potential benefits in a mine accident.