Mining Publication: Flammability of Wider Conveyor Belts Using Large-scale Fire Tests
Original creation date: January 2012
The Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2006 (MINER Act) established a Technical study panel (the Panel) to provide recommendations on the utilization of belt air and new technology that may be available for increasing the fire resistance properties of conveyor belt used in underground coal mines. The Panel Report recommended use of the belt evaluation laboratory test (BELT) as the method for testing and approval of flame resistant conveyor belts used in underground coal mines. The research conducted to establish the correlation of the BELT with large-scale belt fire flammability tests was done using 91-107 cm (36-42 in) wide conveyor belt. Due to today’s coal haulage capacity, the mining industry is using 183 cm (72 in) and wider conveyor belts. The U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conducted a study to determine if the BELT will also qualify wider belts as fire resistant for use in underground coal mines. This paper describes the results of recent experiments comparing results from using the BELT and the large-scale tests for six different belts.
Authors: JH Rowland, AC Smith
Peer Reviewed Journal Article - January 2012
NIOSHTIC2 Number: 20040464
Trans Soc Min Metal Explor TP-10-014, 2012 Jan; 330:345-349
See Also
- A 20-Liter Furnace Test Method to Determine the Combustion Gas Toxicity of Conveyor Belts
- Analysis of Mine Fires for All U.S. Underground and Surface Coal Mining Categories: 1990-1999
- Analysis of Underground Coal Mine Fire Incidents in the United States from 1978 through 1992
- CFD Modeling of Fire Spread Along Combustibles in a Mine Entry
- Determining the Root Causes of Flame Cutting and Welding Fires in Underground U.S. Coal Mines
- Explosion Temperatures and Pressures of Metals and Other Elemental Dust Clouds
- Fire Control and Suppression
- Fire Response Preparedness for Underground Mines
- Smoke, Carbon Monoxide, and Hydrogen Chloride Production from the Pyrolysis of Conveyor Belting and Brattice Cloth
- The Status of Mine Fire Research in the United States
- Technology for Remote Mine Seal Construction
- Content source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Mining Program