10
INTRODUCTION
The official project that investigated the occurrence of
methane ignitions in the cutting zone of the Continuous Miner
(CM), commenced in March 2013 and consisted of a number
of research areas that focused in detail on the prevention of
methane ignitions, in particular in the face area where the CM
cuts coal. The project was scheduled for completion at the end
of December 2015 and took a holistic look at the reasons why
methane ignitions could occur. The official project ended with
a comprehensive project report, published in 2016.
Following the end of the official Methane Ignition Prevention
Project, the Coal Mining Industry requested the project be
extended into additional phases for the following reasons:
y
y
The industry should take ownership of the research results,
y
y
The industry will have to be assisted to practically apply the
research results and ensure an improvement in the coal face
area.
This resulted in the initiation of the following project phases:
y
y
Phase 2 (2016): Following the research results from Phase
1, research and development of a unique face ventilation
system that can combat the formation of hybrid mixtures in
the cutting zone.
y
y
Phase 3 (2016): Assist the mining industry in practically
applying the positioning of the second methane sensor
on the cutting head of the CM, and the development of a
real-time methane data logging system that can present the
methane concentrations on a real-time basis.
y
y
Phase 4 (2017): Following the results from Phase 2, develop
and prove the use of compressed air driven Terrajet
TM
Air-
movers as being an effectivemeans to combat themethane/
dust hybrid mixture within the CM cutting zone.
y
y
Phase 5 (2018): - Using the results from the previous phases
to present an updated and optimised face ventilation
system to the Coal Mining Industry.
C. MEYER
SAFETY AROUND CONTINUOUS MINERS,
FOCUSING ON PREVENTING METHANE INCIDENTS
