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By Larry R. Powell

As part of the Bureau of Mines effort to establish a comprehensive subsidence data base for subsidence technology development, subsidence and related data are being compiled for various mining, geological, and environmental situations. This publication presents data for two longwall mining operations in the Northern Appalachian Coal Region. Vertical displacements and relative face positions are tabulated for 104 subsidence monuments. Brief physiographic and geological descriptions of the mining sites are presented along with a general account of the mining and subsidence monitoring methods.

Jan 1, 1981

By D. Harrington

Approximately 6,000 coal mines are operated in the United States. All of them have in some degree the elements that are likely to contribute to an explosion, hence it is surprising that explosion disasters are not more frequent and that many mines have been operated for years and finally worked out and abandoned without experiencing an explosion. The absence of coal-mine explosions does not always indicate that effective efforts have been made to prevent them but rather that the nine has been fortunate in that the combination of circumstances necessary to cause an explosion has not existed. In view of present knowledge of the methods of preventing explosions, disasters are inexcusable and discredit the mining industry. The methods of preventing mine explosions are known to experienced, well-informed persons engaged in coal mining, yet despite this knowledge far to many coal-mine operators continue to use practices and methods that they should know have resulted in numerous explosions. Moreover, many mine workers persist in following past procedure irrespective of consequences and in breaking safety rules or indulging in practices almost certain eventually to result in disaster. Continued failure to apply known common-sense methods of accident and explosion prevention unquestionably will cell for ultimate enforcement of law.

Jan 1, 1940

By E. Rupprecht, J. Volkwein, K. Cashdollar, R. Gürtunca

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) mining research program at the Pittsburgh Research Laboratory (PRL), includes the areas of coal mine dust control and monitoring, and explosion prevention. One very important project at PRL is development of a continuous recording person-wearable respirable dust monitor. This Personal Dust Monitor (PDM) is a respirable dust sampler and gravimetric -equivalent analysis instrument that is part of a belt-worn mine cap lamp battery unit. Prototypes were successfully tested in the laboratory and in four underground coal mines. The PDM testing demonstrated that it was convenient to wear and use, robust, and provided accurate and timely data. NOSH is also conducting research in the program area of coal mine explosion prevention, suppression, and mitigation. Aspects of this research program include: full scale explosion research, laboratory scale research, frictional ignition of methane, mine ventilation seal construction, prediction of coal mine methane emissions, mine monitoring systems, flame cutting and welding operations, spontaneous combustion, and emergency preparedness.

By P. B. Altringer

The Federal Bureau of Mines conducted a study to determine if residues from fractional distillation represent a potential source of mineral values. A literature review and discussions with tar sand specialists failed to disclose the mineralogical nature of residues remaining after bitumen extraction. To develop this information, pilot plant tar sand residues or toluene-cleaned tar sands from 23 deposits were examined. The nature of the residues was determined by standard mineralogical methods and the chemical compositions were determined by X-ray and ICP (inductively-coupled plasma spectroscopy). None of the sands or concentrates examined contained sufficient valuable minerals to be economically important.

Jan 1, 1982

By M. L. Bowser

Pulse-forming circuitry is described for use in explosives research that requires precise synchronization and control of events in order to investigate detonation parameters. Included are pulse generators for oscilloscope sweep control, counterchronograph actuators, and a raster-type oscillographic method for the determination of velocities of detonation that are applicable to studies on solid, liquid, and gaseous detonations. INTRODUCTION Prom time to time, requests have been received for information on electronic circuitry used in explosives work at the Explosives Research Laboratory, Bruceton, Pa. The methods used are not entirely original;4 5 6 however, modifications of earlier techniques and some novel design aspects have resulted in time-tested methods that warrant a more detailed description.

Jan 1, 1962

By G. H. Gronhovd

This report describes the design and initial operation of a slagging gasification pilot plant installed by the Bureau of Mines at the Lignite Research Laboratory, Grand Forks, N. Dak., in 1958-59. The tests covered in this report were conducted over a period of about 2 years, beginning in April 1959. The pilot plant was designed for eventual operation at pressures ranging from 400 to 600 p.s.i.g. (pounds per square inch gage); however, for the preliminary test reported here, the gasifier was fitted with a low-pressure slagging section and operated at atmospheric pressure and at 80 p.s.i.g. The reason for using a low-pressure slagging section for initial operation was to facilitate modifications in design during the development of a reliable slagging procedure.

Jan 1, 1962

By L. R. Fisher

The purpose of this investigation was twofold: (1) To devise a rapid method for determining quantitatively the porphyrin-carboxylic acid content of a particular crude-oil porphyrin aggregate, and (2) to isolate porphyrins in the crystalline state from crude-oil porphyrin aggregates. The first purpose was accomplished by applying adsorption chromatography. In fulfillment of the second aim three different crystalline porphyries were isolated by methods which involved both adsorption chromatography and fractionation of benzene solutions with hydrochloric acid of varying strength. The three porphyrins had etio, rhodo-, and phyllo-type absorption spectra, respectively. INTRODUCTION Many samples of petroleum have, as interesting minor constituents, chemical compounds known as metalloporphyrins. Their presence in crude oil and other bituminous materials was first discovered by Treibs a quarter century ago. Much experimental work has been done on metalloporphyrins because of their importance to the petroleum industry. They have a deleterious effect on refining catalysts. The ash resulting from the burning of heavy fuel oil is very reactive, We to the presence of metallic constituents, particularly vanadium. In oil-fired gas turbines, the ash may build up on the blades, causing imbalance of the rotors and, in addition, severe corrosion. In industrial boilers, the ash residue is responsible for severe damage to boiler tubes and to the refractory brickwork (15).4 Through study of the chemical constitution of the various metalloporphyrins found in petroleum, much can be learned concerning the origin, migration, and history of crude oils.

Jan 1, 1961

By N. A. C. Smith, A. C. Fieldner, R. R. Sayers

Gases and vapors given off by petroleum and its products have long been recognized as somewhat injurious, when inhaled in high enough concentrations. The petroleum industry has recognized these effects and has tried to minimize the possibility of employees encountering dangerous concentrations of the vapors. Petroleum gases and vapors have not, however, been considered as actively poisonous, in the sense that hydrocyanic (prussic) acid and phosgene are poisonous; men have been exposed to them repeatedly, and for long periods, without any marked ill effects. Light Mexican crude oil when first introduced into the United States for refining was handled in much the same way as was customary with other apparently similar crudes; but experience soon showed that some toxic substance escaped from the crude during production and transportation and in most of the refinery operations. After a preliminary investigation several of the larger companies decided that the gases from the petroleum were the source of trouble, and therefore took precautions, wherever possible, to protect the men from exposure to these gases. With the increasing use of Mexican crude, this problem has become important. The present report covers the work done on the subject by the Bureau of Mines and the Public Health Service under a cooperative agreement with the American Petroleum Institute.

Jan 1, 1925

By A. R. T. Denues

This investigation was made under a cooperative agreement between the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, and the Pittsburgh Testing Laboratory. Funds were supplied by the Chile Exploration Co., whose executive offices are in New York City. The support, cooperation, and services of these agencies made the work possible and are acknowledged gratefully. The writer wishes to express his particular indebtedness to the staff of the Explosives Division of the Bureau of Mines for services and assistance, particularly Dr. Wilbert J. Huff, consulting explosives chemist, J. C. Holtz, J. E. Tiffany, and A. B. Coates; to F. O. Gardner, treasurer of the Pittsburgh Testing Laboratory; to G. B. Holderer, consulting engineer in connection with liquid-oxygen explosives for the Chile Exploration Co.; to the Enos Coal Mining Co. of Oakland City, Ind., particularly to G. H. Utterback of the staff of the mine for providing facilities that made field tests possible; and to full-time assistants J. W. Rothhaar and J. G. P. Weinheimer and to W. S. Hiller, part-time assistant, who were employed under the cooperative agreement.

Jan 1, 1940

By J. C. Edwards, C. C. Hwang

In ventilated tunnel fires, smoke and hot combustion products may form a layer near the ceiling and flow in the direction opposite to the ventilation stream. The existence of this reverse stratified flow has an important bearing on fire fighting and evacuation of underground mine roadways, tunnels and building corridors. In the present study, conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, a CFD program (fire dynamics simulator) based on large eddy simulations (LES) is used to model floor-level fires in a ventilated tunnel. Specifically, the critical ventilation velocity that is just sufficient to prevent the formation of a reverse stratified layer is simulated for two tunnels of different size. The computer code is verified by checking the computed velocity profile against experimental measurements. The CFD results show the leveling-off of the critical ventilation velocity as the heat release rate surpasses a certain value. At this critical ventilation, the ceiling temperature above the fire reaches a maximum for both tunnels. The velocity leveling-off can be explained from this observation. An extended correlation of Newman (Combust. Flame 57 (1984) 33) is applied to the temperature profiles obtained by CFD. At the critical ventilation, temperature stratification exists downstream from the fire. The computed critical ventilation velocity shows fair agreement with available experimental data taken from both horizontal and inclined fire tunnels. The CFD simulations indicate that the Froude modeling is an approximation for tunnel fires. The Froude-scaling law does not apply to two geometrically similar fire tunnels. The CFD results are compared with two simple theories of critical ventilation by Kennedy et al. (ASHRAE Trans. Res. 102(2) (1996) 40) and Kunsch

By O. C. Blade

Diesel fuel is being used in greater volume than ever before in the United States. During 1950 railroads used 43 percent of the total volume of Diesel fuel sold, smelters, mines, and manufacturing plants used about 13 percent, highway vehicles such as trucks and busses, and equipment such as tractors and bulldozers accounted for approximately 20 percent, about 12 percent was used by water craft, and the remaining 12 percent by gas and electric utilities, the military forces, and oil companies. These figures were calculated from data issued by the Bureau of Mines. 2/ Comparable figures for 1951 and for 1952 to date are not available, but recent information indicates that well over 11,000,000 barrels of Diesel fuel per month are produced by the country's refineries. 3/ More information on this increasingly important type of engine fuel is needed by the petroleum industry, engine manufacturers, and consumers, particularly on the grades and qualities of the Diesel fuels being marketed. To supply this information the American Petroleum Institute and the Bureau of Mines, United States Department of the Interior, under cooperative agreement, are conducting annual surveys of Diesel fuel oil produced in refineries in this country.

Jan 1, 1952

By J. W. Thompson

LIMESTONE DEPOSITS. Limestone deposits that have not been demonstrated to be of such quality as to give them any substantial value over other limestone deposits of the same region, are not regarded as minerals. Gray Trust Co., In re, 47 Land Decisions 18, p. 20. OIL AS A MINERAL. Oil is a mineral substance and its removal will greatly impair the value of the land from which it is removed. Texas & Pacific Coal & Oil Co. v. Howard. Southwestern 735, p. 737. Tex. Clv. App. 212 OIL AND GAS AS MINERALS OWNERSHIP. Oil and gas are minerals and so long as they remain in place they belong to the owner of the land under which they are found and such owner has the right to explore for the oil and gas on or under his land and when found to remove and possess the same. Kimbley v. Luckey, Okla. - 179 Pacific 928, p. 831. OWNERSHIP OF MINERALS LACHES NO BAR. The owner of minerals in land can not be barred by laches for failing to assert his ownership where his title had not been ques- tioned and his right invaded. No lapse of time bars one's right to property and it is only in case his right has been invaded that it can be barred by laches.

Jan 1, 1920

By Robert L. Lagace

An investigation is made of the feasibility of developing compact transmit antennas and/or other means to efficiently couple VLF to MF band radio energy between portable wireless communication units in coal minus. The completely wireless communication ranges between two portable radios equipped with practically-sized reference loop antennas in representative coal mine environments are estimated. Antenna technology is assessed with respect to transmit moment, range, intrinsic safety, battery and wearability requirements to determine the most suitable antenna types for use by miners. It is concluded that air-core bandolier loop antennas, and perhaps ferrite-loaded loop antennas, having peak transmit moments of about 2.5 ampere-m2 will be the most effective antenna choices for portable units. This choice, however, will not allow the range goal of 1350 feet to he attained in mines having unfavorable signal attenuation and noise environments. Rectangular air-core loops are compared with grounded horizontal-wire and vertical-wire mode exciters for fixed station applications. The potential for significantly increasing the wireless communication range by inductively coupling to communications and power lines in a mine is evaluated and found to be considerable based on theoretical coupling equations. Lastly, the theoretical performance of a hybrid noise cancelling diversity receiving technique that utilizes both the electric and magnetic field components of the ambient noise to improve the receiver output signal-to-noise ratio under certain adverse conditions is estimated and shown to be favorable when the magnetic and electric field noise components are highly correlated.

Jan 1, 1977

By J. K. Whyatt, B. G. White

A comprehensive survey of mine seismicity and rock bursting during development of two sublevels at the Lucky Friday Mine, Mullan, ID, USA, was conducted to better define rock failure mechanisms and sources of ground control hazards. Survey data included rock burst damage reports, seismic event locations and magnitudes and, for the most energetic events, first-motion information. Several subsets of this database, including large seismic events, rock bursts, and microseismic activity near the face, were analyzed. Elements of the large-event and rock burst data sets were nearly independent. That is, there was no relationship between the risk posed by a seismic event and its energy, although such a relationship is well established for the mine as a whole. All data sets showed that certain geologic features appear to control the spatial distribution of events and the spatial distribution of rock burst risk. The data also suggest that, within the scope of this study. the greatest risk of injury occurs when a pocket of heightened rock burst risk is first encountered and that this risk is controlled when miners adapt their practices to these conditions. Recognition of the role of particular geologic features in the spatial distribution of rock burst hazards provides an opportunity for anticipating, rather than only reacting to, a changing level of rock burst hazard- However, much work will he required to make good on this promise.

By G. M. Kintz, Charles B. Carpenter, G. W. Jones

"INTRODUCTION At 9:12 a. m. on April 16, 1947, the ammonium nitrate cargo in hold 4 of the S. S. Grandcamp, a 7,176 gross-ton Liberty ship owned by the French Government, detonated at pier 0 of the Texas City Terminal Railway Co., Texas City, Galveston County, Tex.This detonation was the first of a series of explosions and fires that took the lives of approximately 600 persons, injured 3,000 other persons, and caused a property damage and business loss that will exceed $58,800,000. It has been estimated that the life, accident, and workmen's compensation insurance loss will be $8,200,000.At 1:10 a. m. on April 17, 1947, the ammonium nitrate cargo in hold 5 of the S.S. High Flyer, a 6,214-gross-ton Liberty ship owned and operated by the Lykes Bros. Steamship Co., Inc., detonated at pier L. This explosion materially increased the property damage caused by the first explosion, in between 50 and 100 persons, and is believed to have taken the life of only one person.The exact number of casualties resulting from the Texas City disaster may never be known. On June 22, 1947, 65 days after the explosions, the red Cross and the Texas Department of Public safety repoted:,""Identified dead, 405; unidentified dead, 63; believed missing, 100; injured, 3,000; hospital¬ized, 600; still in hospitals, 37."""

Feb 1, 1948

By R. V. Ramani

This report is volume 10 of an eleven-volume final report for a Grant completed by The Pennsylvania State University for the Bureau of Mines to develop a dynamic general purpose computer simulation model for underground coal mining. The simulator developed under the Grant has a wide range of possible applications in the design and evaluation of underground coal mining systems from the standpoints of health and safety, productivity, and mine environment. The Master Design Simulator consists of nine free-standing function-oriented subsystem models linked together into an integrated, comprehensive model of an entire mining system. The subsystems comprising the Master Design Simulator include geology and reserves, methane generation, roof support, subsidence, production, rail haulage, cost, water generation, and ventilation. This volume of the final report describes the Ventilation subsystem of the Master Design Simulator. The Ventilation subsystem has the capabilities to handle: (1) branches in parallel or series, (2) fans in parallel or series, (3) multiple fans, (4) methane, compressed air, or other injections into the system, (5) leakages and fixed quantities, and (6) calculations of absolute pressure at nodes. The program uses the Kirchoff's Junction and mesh laws, and the Hardy-Cross iterative technique to converge to the desired accuracy in solving fox the head quantity. A case study is included in the report illustrating the use of the model. The appendices of the report constitute a user's manual for the Ventilation subsystem, and include a program listing.

Jan 1, 1975

By Liming Yuan

Barometric pressure changes affect air density, leading to change in the mass of the gas in the gob. When the barometric pressure decreases, the volume of gas in the gob expands, while the volume of gas contracts when the barometric pressure increases, causing the gob to breathe out and in. Although the concept of gob ?breathing? is simple, its effect on spontaneous heating of coal in the gob area is not clear. In this study, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were conducted to model the spontaneous heating of coal in longwall gob area under measured barometric pressure changes. A single longwall panel using a bleederless ventilation system was simulated. If there is no barometric pressure change, the intake airflow rate is equal to the return airflow rate. When the barometric pressure changes, these two airflow rates are no longer equal, and the difference between the two airflow rates represents the airflow rate the gob breathes in and out. The effect of inflow and outflow of gas on the potential spontaneous heating in the gob was investigated using the CFD model developed in our previous study. The effect of barometric pressure changes on the spontaneous heating was found to be dependent on the gob permeability and the coal oxidation rate. The effect of barometric pressure changes on oxygen concentrations in the gob was also examined.

Jan 1, 2010

By Kenneth R. Sites

Under this program two tape recording and triggering systems were developed and delivered for use in the Bureau of Mines microseismic program. The systems are designed to improve the effectiveness of the Bureau owned Sangamo 3500 series and SABRE VI instrumentation tape recorders. The system is designed to capture random microseismic data, digitize and temporarily store these data, start the tape recorder; and then transfer the data to magnetic tape for permanent storage. The system is designed to pack data on tape such that the tape may be simply played back through galvo drivers onto an oscillograph such that a continuous series of analog records, with corresponding time of day information, are reproduced without excessive oscillograph paper waste or the need for the operator to search for valid events.

Jan 1, 1980

By Rudolf E. Greuer

This report contains a theoretical study on the usefulness of fighting mine fires with inert gases. Four introductory chapters review the role of fires in the mining industry; the conventional fire fighting techniques, the influence of inert gases on the burning of gases and solids, and the well established inert gas fire extinguishing systems for buildings and machinery. A large chapter describes the use which inert gas has found so far for fighting mine fires in major mining countries. More applications have occurred than generally expected and the inert gas method has in the last years become routine in Czechoslovakia and the USSR. This chapter is based on an evaluation of the extensive literature as well as on personal information obtained from leading experts.

Jan 1, 2012

By L. C. IlsLey

The increasing use of Diesel engines for operating equipment on trunk-line railroads and for power-plant units has stimulated interest in the use of Diesel engines for other lines of work, among which is the possibility of substituting Diesel locomotives for trolley locomotives for mines. The possibility of developing Diesel locomotives for duty in American mines is not as remote as it might seem, particularly in view of the fact that locomotives of this type are already used in considerable numbers in European mines. A study of Diesel locomotives in Europe is contained in Report of Investigations 3320, Diesel Mine Locomotives - Development and Use in European Coal Mines, by George S. Rice and F. E. Harris.

Jan 1, 1938