11th International Mine Ventilation Congress
Methane gas and coal dust explosions are a constant safety risk during coal mining. Various mitigation controls are used today. The primary differentiation will be controls to either prevent an explosion or to stop an explosion once it has ignited. Common explosion controls will be active or passive explosion barriers. These barriers will be incorporated either in legislation or a mine’s Code of Practice. Both types of barriers have been tested according to accepted protocols. These protocols would meet the requirement of a barrier to stop and suppress explosion. The protocol will however not address the aspects concerning practicality, efficiency, maintainability, lifecycle costs and most importantly reliability and damage control. This paper will discuss aspects concerning the implementation and maintenance of active and passive barriers. The paper will furthermore outline the difference in function, thereby highlighting the difference in reliability and damage control.
