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Mining Publication: Assessment of Present Electromagnetic Techniques for the Location of Trapped Miners

NOTE: This page is archived for historical purposes and is no longer being maintained or updated. Contact NIOSH Mining if you need an accessible version.

Original creation date: July 1980

Image of publication Assessment of Present Electromagnetic Techniques for the Location of Trapped Miners

Field studies have been conducted in a large number of coal mines throughout the U.S. to determine the effectiveness of electromagnetic techniques in locating men trapped underground following a mine disaster. Data from these tests have been used to generate models of expected signal and noise distributions as found above mines throughout the coal fields. These distributions have aided in placing the expected performance of a through-the-earth electromagnetic communications technique into a probabilistic framework. Results indicate an expected 45% probability of detecting a miner's signal from a depth of 1,000 ft, a depth which exceeds 903 of the coal mines within the U.S. and a 90% probability at a depth of 500 ft, a depth which exceeds 50% of the mines.

Authors: JA Durkin

Conference Paper - July 1980

Fifth WVU Conference on Coal Mine Electrotechnology, Smith-NS, ed., July 30-31, Aug 1, 1980, Morgantown, West Virginia, 1980 Oct; :1-16


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