Engineering and Mining Journal - Whether the market is copper, gold, nickel, iron ore, lead/zinc, PGM, diamonds or other commodities, E&MJ takes the lead in projecting trends, following development and reporting on the most efficient operating pr
Issue link: https://emj.epubxp.com/i/115330
UNDERGROUND COMMUNICATIONS sages to miners, indicating where the proposed meeting point is located. If the miners are equipped with mobile devices such as pagers or phones, the MICs also can actively guide them 4ÑUnderground WLAN to this meeting point by Figuremessenger/pager (right)smartphone (left) and WLAN from MineTronics. showing the instructions on the LCD display of the MICs and distributed on handheld units. Further information displayed on the MICs or on handheld devices also can show whether workers have been left behind. When everyone is mustered at the meeting place, they can decide whether to attempt an evacuation or retreat to a rescue chamber, for instance. In the example shown in the figure they may decide to evacuate via connection 1. If they then reach an area where communications are intact, their devices will connect to the network and they can report their situation. The new intelligent underground network infrastructure using MICs has been used commercially for about three years at several mines in countries throughout Europe. New wireless client devices such as messenger (pagers) and smartphones (See Figure 4), that are capable of emergency communication underground are currently being introduced so that the safety support functions described above can be gradually introduced and thoroughly tested in real world applications. The new system is designed to work in both hard rock and coal mining. Marginal Cost, Improved Functionality Due to lack of standardization and interoperability in many existing mines, separate systems often are used for different aspects of mine safety such as ventilation, tracking, electricity, geoseismic etc. In an emergency it is crucial to make the right decisions quickly, because the available time frame for successful rescue efforts may only be a matter of minutes or hours. This is a challenge for future integration of underground devices into the networks—a step that is essential to achieve process-optimized mining. Initial steps, such as standardization of tracking formats through IREDES initiative have already been undertaken. Currently, network-based communication systems are commonly installed in underground mines and are generally used for standard data and voice communication. If these installations are planned using active components capable of providing the safety support functions illustrated, the additional cost for the safety functionality can be marginal compared with investing in additional or separate safety communication infrastructure. MineTronics' new safety-related underground network consists of intelligent network nodes combining switches, WLAN access and safety- and infrastructure-related mining functions. In an emergency, this equipment also acts as supporting devices for localization of the emergency, for localizing people and for supporting a coordinated self-escape of the miners. In general, this new system has the capability to significantly improve and support underground safety in a cost-efficient way by using a mine's standard operational network infrastructure for safety support functions. Christoph Müller is CEO of MineTronics GmbH, Goethestraße 52, D-49549 Ladbergen, Germany. Email: chmueller@minetronics.com. www.e-mj.com MARCH 2013 • E&MJ; 49