Pneumatic Backfilling & Restoration

INTRODUCTION Pneumatic conveyance systems provide for material placement at high compaction rates in confined spaces. This method of conveyance provides proper roof support and ground stabilization important to underground mining activities. Today underground mining activities are conducted far differently than those of our ancestors, in that the reclamation process is the final step in any mining activity. Responsible mine owners are constantly seeking innovative methods to assist them in their reclamation procedures. During the last few years, particular attention has been paid to previously mined areas, as many of these abandoned areas lay open, imposing a constant threat to humans and animals. Considerable attention is being directed to applying proper methods for the filling and sealing of underground slopes, drifts, tunnels, and adits, because today we are experiencing the effects of past mining activities such as subsidence, acid mine water run-off, buring refuse piles, and underground mine fires. Furthermore humans and animals who have ventured into abandoned mine openings have died from exposure, suffocating gases, and mine collapse. This paper explains the method of pneumatically filling and sealing these openings and underground works by means of employing pneumatic equipment and proper backfill material together, thus achieving high material compaction and thereby providing the complete filling of the voids and alleviation of the mentioned dangers. NEUMATIC SYSTEMS The use of air to transport material is widely used; however, conveying abrasive material (e., rock, earth, and cement) requires certain pneumatic transport systems designed to handle the abrasiveness as well as the size of these materials. The Eby pneumatic transport sys tem, known as a Mobile Stower, in mounted on a 42-foot trailer pulled by a Kenwor th tractor. This arrangement allows for quick mobilization and project set-up. The pneumatic system, composed of several components assembled together, produces the volume and pressure of air required to transport the material. Knowledge of elevation, ambient temperature, and material composition at the locations to be backfilled play a big part in the design and useage of the pneumatic system. In this particular system design, material is placed by a front-end loader into an eight (8)-yard hopper which is located over a belt conveyor. The conveyor transports the material up to an air lock feeder, which is the metering devise used to feed the material into the Tee Injector located directly below. Air is supplied by a positive displacement blower which, in this instance, delivers up to 4400 CFM's of air at 8 to 12 PSI. Horse power requirements to drive the blower are met with the useage of either a diesel engine or an electric motor. A diesel engine enables the Mobile Stower to operate in remote areas. As the air flows through the upstream air piping, it passes through the Tee Injector and picks up the material and conveys it through the material conveyance pipe, (referred to as down-stream pipe), and out the placement nozzle. Depending upon material composition and the amount of tonnage to be moved, either mild carbon steel pipe or specially heat- treated hardened pipe is used for the material conveyance line. The entire pneumatic system is controlled from the operator's console. With the aid of instrumentation, only one person is required to operate the system. Tonnage rates vary in accordance with horse power and air supply, as well as