Gas monitoring remains an essential part of the mining industry even since the early days of mining. A gas leak can be catastrophic to equipment and to the health and safety of workers. Gas monitoring is done both on the surface and underground.
On the surface, gas concentrations are continuously monitored in order to determine if they rise above certain thresholds that would indicate a dangerous situation developing inside the mine. The most common gasses monitored on the surface include methane, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and other toxic gasses.
Underground mining gas monitoring can now take place through the help of fixed monitors and portable monitors. These can be placed throughout mining sites and capture a signal from wireless leaky feeder systems to deliver instant alerts to people working throughout the mining site. All of the latest gas monitoring devices offer sensitive alerts and easy integration in a mining site.
In addition to providing warning signals in the case of a gas leak, these monitoring systems also offer additional functionality such as analyzing and recording data from sensors. This can be used to track trends in the levels of gasses over time and provide more information about potential leaks or dangerous situations that could develop.
Fixed gas monitors are usually placed throughout the mine in order to provide continuous monitoring, while portable gas monitors are usually carried by workers and periodically used in riskier environments or areas of the mine where there is a greater potential for gas leaks.
Overall, monitoring systems allow mines to be more proactive in preventing dangerous situations caused by gas leaks. This type of technology has revolutionized the mining industry safety over the past decade. If you are interested in learning more about this technology, contact us today.
This post was written by Justin Tidd, Director at Becker Mining Communications! For over 15 years, Becker Communications has been the industry’s leader in Gas Monitoring Devices and electrical mining communication systems. As they expanded into surface mining, railroads, and tunneling they added wireless communication systems, handheld radios, tagging and tracking systems, as well as gas monitoring.
