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Satya Prakash
Program – B.Tech. IV & DIT IV (MIN)
Batch – 2018-22 & 2018-21
Course – Mine Environment
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1.0 OXYGEN (O2)
Oxygen can cause a dangerous condition in a mine only by its absence. Air
which has been stagnant for a considerable period may have much of its
oxygen removed by the oxidation of metals and minerals and the decaying of
timber, and some or all of it may have been replaced by carbon dioxide.
Such a mixture of gas which is deficient of oxygen, but is neither poisonous
nor explosive, is called black-damp in underground mine environment and
ventilation.
Mine safety laws in India require a TLV greater than 19% for oxygen. This
means that any part of a given mine must have an oxygen concentration ofat
least 19% in the mine air/atmosphere. In former USSR, the TLV for oxygen
was 20% while it is 19.5% in the USA.
O2 Conc. Effect
19% Flame height on flame safety lamp (to be discussed latter) gets
reduced by 50%
17% Noticeable increase in rate of breathing. Increase in the
concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
15% Spinning sensation in head and increased heartbeat.
13-9% Disorientation, fainting, vomiting sensation, headache, blue lips,
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and coma may occur
7% Coma, convulsions (violent uncontrollable contractions of
muscles) or death may occur
Below The conditions may eventually lead to death
6%
The whole setup is encapsulated in an inert plastic which is sealed off. A thin
membrane is used to protect the sensing electrode and it allows oxygen to
get diffused into the cell. The oxygen gets dissolved in the electrolyte and
reacts with the gold cathode. Thus the gold cathode becomes positively
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charged. The lead anode becomes negatively charged through the formation
of lead oxide and water. A current proportional to the oxygen concentration
flows between the cathode and the anode which is used as a measuring
signal.
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c. The flame safety lamp is also used to find out the percentage of oxygen in
the atmosphere. In this method, the length of the flame produced by the
lamp because of the burning of the gas is used. Accordingly, the oxygen
percentage can be found out by noticing the flame height. More details on
flame safety lamp will be discussed in latter lectures.
Nitrogen has no known harmful effects on the human system but a higher
concentration of nitrogen leads to deficiency of oxygen in the mine air. Thus,
increase in nitrogen concentration indirectly leads to the physiological effects
caused by a lack of oxygen on humans.
Carbon dioxide is colorless, odorless and has a slightly acidic taste (CO2 is
sometimes called carbonic acid gas because with water it forms carbonic
acid). The specific gravity of carbon dioxide is 1.519which is almost one-and-
a-half times that of the specific gravity of air. That is why carbon dioxide is
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found in low-lying areas in the mines. It is fairly soluble in water and forms
carbonic acid when dissolved in water. Its solubility in water increases with
decrease in temperature{An increase in inhaled CO and subsequent reaction
2
with water in the blood forms carbonic acid (H CO ), which then dissociates
2 3
+ -
into hydrogen ions [H ] and bicarbonate [HCO ]. The excess CO shifts the
3 2
+ -
CO + H O ↔ H CO ↔ H + HCO
2 2 2 3 3
Carbon dioxide occurs both in coal and metal mines. It is produced from a
variety of sources including strata emissions, oxidation of carbonaceous
materials, internal combustion engines, blasting, fires, explosions and
respiration. A mixture of carbon dioxide and nitrogen in which the
concentration of CO2 may vary from almost negligible to 20%, is known as
black damp. Blackdamp is usually heavier than air, but becomes lighter when
the percentage of CO2 in it falls below 5.25%. Carbon dioxide liquefies at -
5°C under a pressure of 31.4 bar. If it is further cooled, it solidifies into dry
ice which derives its name from the fact that it evaporates in air without
melting (undergoes sublimation process).
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Table 2 Physiological effects of carbon dioxide (Source)
Federal regulation require that all active workings in coal mines must be
ventilated by an air current containing not less than 19.5 % of O2 and not
more than 0.5% of CO2. If we need to calculate the air quantity required only
to satisfy the respiratory requirement, we need to consider both the cases
i.e., the oxygen consumed by each worker and the CO2 produced by him.
Since, CO2 is a contaminant, accurate measurement of quantity needed is a
must for the safety of the workers. Table 3 given below is useful in
calculating quantity of air requirements under different conditions.
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Table 3 Respiratory requirements under different situations
(Source)
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CO is a colorless and odorless gas with a specific gravity of 0.972.As can be
seen, its specific gravity is almost equal to that of air and therefore it exists
at all levels in an underground opening. It burns with a blue flame and is
explosive in presence of air at concentrations between 12.5% and 75%.
Though CO is an inflammable gas, this fact is of no practical importance in
mining because it never occurs in significant concentration to burn or to
cause an explosion. The ignition temperature of CO is 873K.CO is produced
by the incomplete combustion of carbonaceous materials. It is also produced
by internal combustion engines, blasting and spontaneous combustion in
coalmines. It can also be generated as a component of water gas (mixture of
CO and H2), when water is applied to coal for controlling the fire. That is why
it is advisable not to apply water at the centre of coal fire because it will lead
to the formation of hydrogen and CO, and because of the formation of
hydrogen which is a explosive gas, this fire will become more violent.
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4.3 Physiological Effects
Hemoglobin present in human blood has 300 times more affinity towards CO
than O2.The new substance formed by the combination of CO and
hemoglobin is known as carboxy-haemoglobin. This is relatively stable and
accumulates in the bloodstream. This results in a reduction in the number of
red cells for carrying oxygen to vital parts of the body. Thus the physiological
effects of CO arise because of the reduction in oxygen supply to vital parts of
the body. The symptoms depending upon the saturation of blood by carboxy-
haemoglobin are given in Table 4
Blood Symptoms
saturation
% CO.Hb
5-10 Slight loss of concentration
10-20 Sensation of tightness across forehead, slight headache
20-30 Throbbing headache, judgment impaired
30-40 Severe headache, dizziness, disorientation, dimmed vision,
nausea(vomiting), possible collapse
40-60 Increased probability of collapse, rise in rates of pulse and
respiration, convulsions
60-70 Coma, depressed pulse and respiration, possible death
70-80 Fatal- will lead to death
Carbon monoxide imparts a bright pink color to blood, and the patient
poisoned by CO has a typically pink color as a result of this. The best remedy
for CO poisoning is to quickly expose the patient to fresh air and provide him
pure oxygen. The patient should be covered by blankets so that he can be
kept warm. Black coffee is also very useful. The property of blood turning
pink by absorbing carbon monoxide has been used for testing the gas. The
air with CO contained in it is passed through a light straw colored solution of
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blood and the coloration produced is compared with a standard color chart
calibrated for different colorations of the gas. This method gives a good
accuracy within the range of 0.01 to 0.2% CO.
Warm blooded birds like munia/canary or mouse are also used for detecting
CO as they are affected sooner than human beings by CO. Only fresh birds
are used in this method as repetition of same bird may lead to the
acclimatization of the bird to the low percentages of CO. There are no
immediate signs of distress observed when birds are exposed to 0.1% of CO.
But at 0.15% of CO, a bird shows distress (pronounced chirruping and loss of
liveliness) in 3 minutes. And at 0.3% of CO in air, the bird shows almost
immediate distress and falls off its perch (when a bird perches on something
such as a branch, it lands on it and stands there) in 2-3 minutes.
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