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By Kirk Yeager

During the last several years the FBI has been involved with a detailed study of explosives designed to replicate formulations utilized world-wide by terrorists. In addition, numerous formulations , based on literature and internet sources were examined. During the early stages of this work, a good many of the energetic mixtures studied were based on simple ammonium nitrate fertilizer. While the use of ammonium nitrate in commercial explosives is well studied and documented, the characteristics of the mixtures produced by criminals and terrorists have been less well researched. To aid law-enforcement in understanding the properties of these poorly understood formulations, a “cradle to grave” examination of their characteristics was conducted.

Jan 1, 2001

By Gordon Matheson, Bill Yancey, David K. Miller

"Current regulatory limits for blast vibration and airblast control in Virginia do not specifically addressunderwater explosive testing. Underwater detonation of explosives generates an initial shock wave and a gas bubble. The gas bubble expands and collapses several times before reaching the water surface. This expansion and collapse of the gas bubble as it rises to the surface is called a “bubble pulse”. The bubble pulse generates low frequency vibrations that have the most potential for damaging structures and causing blasting complaints even below damage levels."

Jan 1, 1999

By R Frank' Mammele Chiappetta, Conny Postupack

A major problem that has continued to plague the surface coal industry is blast induced damage to the coal seam. Atlas Powder Company has addressed this situation through seven years of field research in full-scale production environments. Many operations across the United States have been evaluated.

Jan 1, 1988

By Y Wada, Y Ogata, T Nishida

"Shaped charge is used for blast demolition of steel construction in general. It is important tocontrol movement of cutting part with shaped charge for the blast demolition of steel construction.Movement of cutting part was studied in the small scale experiment with steel bar. A numericalsimulation using the Discontinuous Deformation Analysis (DDA) was carried out. The DDAmethod was applied to the full scale blast demolition of steel construction. Results of thesenumerical simulation was compared with the blasting demolition work of steel tower."

Jan 1, 1999

By Kurt B. Oakes, Brian M. Fortelka

Unimin Corporation operates an underground Silica Sand mine at Guion, AR located in North Central Arkansas. The Silica Sand deposit at Guion is part of the St. Peter Sandstone Formation, which is overlain by a competent dolomitic limestone from the Joachim formation, acting as the roof directly above. Both the St. Peter and the Joachirn Formations are of Middle Ordovician age.

Jan 1, 1999

By Lyall Workman

New mines are frequently located at altitudes above 3,000 meters (10,000 ft.). Drill selection must take the altitude effects into account, to insure high productivity and good bit life. In particular, compressors must be sized differently than for low altitude operation. A larger compressor is required to deliver adequate air to the bottom of the blasthole. Many drills in remote locations use diesel engines as the prime mover. Altitude effects on engine performance should also be considered.

Jan 1, 2007

By Kenneth Eltschlager

The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 requires that blasting be conducted so as to prevent injury to people and damage to public or private property. The three adverse effects are flyrock, ground vibrations and airblast. Blasting close to people frequently results in complaints of annoyance or damage. Federal and State personnel are responsible for evaluating the validity of the complaint. The elements to be evaluated include: reviewing blast logs, inspecting the mine, inspecting the house, measuring ground, air and structure vibrations, and predicting vibration levels. Computer spreadsheets, with their graphical capabilities, will be used to show how data can be cross tabulated to verify data accuracy. Complete statistical analyses of vibrations require more powerful software to make vibration predictions. Once all available data are gathered and verified, a decision on the complaint can be made.

Jan 1, 2001

By M. Oguz Ozkazanc, Gulsev Uyar Aldas

Because of its safety, being easy to handle, relatively inexpensive and containing a lot of energy, ANFO is the most popular and widely used explosive in Turkey as well as other countries in the world. According to change dated May 14th 1999 on the regulation 87/12028 related with explosives, blasters are not allowed to mix ammonium nitrate and fuel oil in the tield to make ANFO. Instead of this, they have been forced to use the ready ANFO prepared by explosive producer firms. As a result of this obligation, the use of technical nitrate for agricultural purpose and mixing AN and fuel oil in unsuitable conditions have been prevented. Indeed, wrong mixture means waste of energy and money.

Jan 1, 2001

By David E. Siskind

Increased mineral consumption and environmental concern have caused much interest in potential damage and annoyance from ground vibration and airblast produced by production blasting in surface mines and quarries. Ground vibrations are traditionally blamed for "shaking the house to its foundations," but often the airblast is responsible, particularly when the distances from mine to structure are large. Simultaneous measurements of ground vibrations, structure vibrations, and indoor and outdoor noise from blasting are being used by the Bureau of Mines to determine the relative importance of the ground and airborne blast energy in shaking the structure and making windows, dishes, etc., rattle.

Jan 1, 1977

By Roy McKinstry

In March of 2001, Barrick Goldstrike became the first surface gold operation in North America to evaluate the advantages of electronic detonators. A detailed study was conducted to quantify the benefits of the use of electronic detonators to the downstream excavation, crushing and ore processing operations. The following methods were used to quantify blast performance: High speed film and video monitoring Firing time and rock response analysis of the high-speed films Digital fragmentation analysis of the post blast muckpile Vibration waveform analysis (including Fast Fourier Transforms and seed waveform modeling) Excavator performance quantification Crusher, SAG mill and ball mill performance evaluation Ore recovery analysis Cost/benefit analysis

Jan 1, 2002

By J. P. Remi Proulx, Juan Camilo Gonzalez T., Winston B. Wilches

Alabama USA based Drummond Ltd. operates two open pit mines in the Cesar Coal Basin of Northern Colombia. The mines produce a combined total of over 25 million tons (22.7 Mt) of thermal coal per year which is transported by rail to Puerto Drummond, a direct ship loading facility, where it is exported to over 15 countries. The company has proven and probable reserves in excess of one billion tons of thermal coal.

Jan 1, 2015

By Benedict C. Di Duca

In the underground construction industry. when bidding work, not only is the contractor faced with determining if rock: is in existence within the parameters of his work. he must also estimate the quantity and the most efficient method of removal.

Jan 1, 1990

By Shuli Teng, Vladimir Sujansky, Matthew Rawls, Ivan Junarsa

In recent years significant advances have been made in chemical processing technology. In particular, process intensification using micro-technology has had some success in changing and improving chemical processes including mixing. Process Intensification is the miniaturization of unit operations and processes whereby a smaller compact piece of equipment takes the place of a larger one at the same given capacity or mass flow rate. This paper summarizes research into the application of the technology for manufacture of high internal phase water in oil ammonium nitrate emulsions (ANE’s) at low energy cost and with very low oil/fuel blend content. The emulsions can be used as precursors for preparation of explosives. The quality of the emulsion prepared was assessed through droplet and crystal analysis and compared with that of emulsions made by conventional large scale jet mixing technology.

Jan 1, 2014

By Francis Otuonye

Rock fragmentation by blasting still remains the most common and cost-effective method of excavating hard rock in mining and tunneling operations. During blasting, the dynamic stresses induced by the detonation of the explosive, in addition to fragmenting the rock in the vicinity of the blast, may fracture the rock at considerable distances from the point of detonation of the explosive. The fractures can result in reduced mine safety, increased costs to support the opening, low productivity and perhaps high ore dilution. Besides the dynamic stresses produced in the rock, air blast overpressure pulses are generated and propagate through the network of underground mine openings. The waves, unable to spread out spherically or hemispherically like blast waves from surface blasting, are forced to propagate by reflection from the roof, ribs and floor down the drift. Blast wave focusing can occur and produce intense shock waves that could damage ventilation barriers such as cement block stoppings.

Jan 1, 1992

By Yeon-Ho Jin, Eui-Haeng Heo, Yun-Seok Park, Sung-Oong Choi, Hyung-Dong Min, Min-Su Jeong, Seung-Joong Lee

As rock fragmentation in bench blasting can affect the following process such as loading, hauling and crushing, its good control is essential for assessment of blasting efficiency and production cost.

Jan 1, 2015

By Paul Worsey, Ron Ecklecamp, Scott G. Giltner, Ronnie Inman, Terry Drechsler

A blast monitoring program conducted at Chemical Lie Company’s new lime calcining facility near Ste. Genevieve, Missouri is discussed. The purpose was to develop blasting criteria for the construction and operation of the lime plant within the quarry operated by Tower Rock Stone. Further, it was imperative to accommodate production requirements into the blasting criteria. The major concern was the effect of blasting on the curing of green concrete during the construction of the storage silos and kiln stacks. In addition to discussing the susceptibility of curing concrete to blast vibrations, the paper also details how this varies with time.

Jan 1, 1996

By Stephen Chung, John Carpenter, Scott Gosch, James Breedlove

While controlling fly rock and ground vibration in quarrying in the neighborhood of a residential area, producing good fragmentation and keeping different grades of material separated in a muckpile are important in maintaining the productivity of quality aggregates. This paper describes a single row production blast for the study of fragmentation and displacement in the grade control carried out at a quarry of Barrett Paving Materials Inc. in Sylvania, Ohio. Digital video imaging was used to monitor the blast-induced motion of the bench face as input to the DMC_Blast (Distinct Motion Code), for the analysis of the formation of the muckpile. The actual digitized blast video and the DMC_Blast simulation are compared. The displacement and mixing of all the inter-bedded limestone layers are made visible in the simulated cross-section of the muckpile. The apparent fragmentation analysed with PowerSieve is also discussed.

Jan 1, 2001

By A. Spathis, I. Yacob, A. Labriola, G. Smith

Wall control is a significant issue for many mines. Improvements to the design process for blasts adjacent to temporary or final walls will require better measurement tools and predictive models. Orica Explosives has developed capability in both these areas and uses them to guide better wall control blasting practices. Vibration and gas pressure were monitored behind a series of production blasts and single hole blasts at the Freeport Grasberg Operations Opencut Mine. The blasts used ANFO in both 3 11 mm and 35 1 mm blastholes in a blast design which reduced the charge weight by between 30 to 50% in the final row of the production blasts. Single hole blast data were obtained by delaying the last hole in the production blast. Vibration levels were within the range often associated with vibration induced damage: 178 to 1080 mm/s at distances between 14-75 metres from the blast.

Jan 1, 2001

By J Edmund Hay, Harry C. Verakisl, Richard J. Mainiero, John J. Mulhern

As the first stage in the rulemaking process, MSHA prepared requirements for the approval and use of permissible explosives and blasting items in underground coal mines. These draft requirements known as "preproposals" were announced in the Federal Register in mid-1984. The draft requirements on the use of explosives were written as a revision to Title 30, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 75, Subpart N. The draft requirements for approval of permissible explosives including sheathed explosives for unconfined applications, approval of water stemming bags, approval of detonators and approval of blasting machines were prepared as Parts 15, 16, 17 and 25 respectively.

Jan 1, 1985

By Thomas Kovalchuk, Kenneth Eltschlager, William Shuss

In April of 2000, two adults and their newborn infant, were poisoned by carbon monoxide in their home and received medical treatment at a Pennsylvania hospital. Carboxyhemoglobin levels were; child - 3 1%, father - 28Oh, and mother - 17%. Initially the furnace was blamed but after further review, blasting at a nearby coal mine was determined to be the source. All other sources of carbon monoxide were ruled out. The blasting was about 400 feet from the house. The conditions that led to the migration of gas include: the blasts were highly confined, the geologic structure contained fractures that served as conduits for the carbon monoxide to reach a hand-dug well outside the house, and the well was atmospherically connected to the basement floor drains.

Jan 1, 2001