Mining Publication: Technology News 456 - A Fault Detection Neural Network for DC Trolley System Protection
Original creation date: May 1997
DC trolley haulage systems move personnel supplies, and coal in approximately 50 U.S. mines. A suspended trolley line energized at 300 or 600 V dc provides electrical power, and a system of steel track serves as the return path. When roof falls and other events force the trolley line down near the ground return rail, inductance inherent in the trolley system facilitates continued current flow along an ionized path between the line and rail. This releases a significant amount of energy in the arc and may damage and/or ignite surrounding material. Conventional circuit breaker systems cannot prevent this continued arcing because the magnitudes of the currents involved may be significantly less that typical breaker trip settings. In 1980, the former U.S. Bureau of Mines demonstrated research to detect arcing and other types of trolley faults. The system required an oscillator to superimpose a 3-kHz signal in the trolley line, a signal wire suspended parallel to the trolley line fore circuit breaker coordination, and a filtering system on locomotives larger than 25 tons. Although the system functioned satisfactorily, the coal industry did not adopt it because of the complexity and cost of the hardware. Today, the threat of trolley fault-induced fires still exists. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has sought solutions that would require minimal hardware maintenance and be cost-effective. Using an artificial neural network (ANN) based system to detect trolley faults would require no modification of the trolley rectifier, line, feeder, or its vehicles, lessening maintenance concerns and costs. Further, all hardware used in the development of this system is commercially available.
Authors: JS Peterson
Technology News - May 1997
NIOSHTIC2 Number: 20000427
Pittsburgh, PA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Technology News 456, 1997 May :1-2
See Also
- The Availability of Primary Copper in Market Economy Countries: A Minerals Availability Appraisal
- Best Practices and Bolting Machine Innovations for Roof Screening
- A Company-Perspective Cost Analysis of the Personal Dust Monitor (PDM)
- The Cost Relationship Between Performance Engineering and Human Behavior
- Drilling a Horizontal Coalbed Methane Drainage System from a Directional Surface Borehole
- Economics of Safety at Surface Mine Spoil Piles
- A Medium Frequency Wireless Communication System For Underground Mines
- Nature and Cost of Low Back Pain
- Operationalizing Normal Accident Theory for Safety-Related Computer Systems
- Thermal Stability of ANFO Made with Recycled Oil
- Content source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Mining Program