Technology
Fibre optics take mining to next safety level REAL-TIME MONITORING ALLOWS MINING COMPANIES TO NOT ONLY DETECT FIRES BUT PREVENT THEM IN ALIGNMENT WITH 2021 TRENDS OF ZERO HARM.
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ires and explosions continue to be one of the biggest threats to mining industry personnel, operations and the environment. A report from the Western Australia Government reveals that fires were the biggest cause of mining incidents, accounting for more than one third of accidents (34 per cent) from September until December of 2020. Fibre optics technology has emerged to offer a more comprehensive and safer solution to the mining industry’s safety needs, aligning with the latest mining trends as stated in Deloitte’s 2021 Tracking the Trends report. “Safety, always central to mining, can be enhanced by new technologies and data…An integrated approach to their use is needed. Safety analytics can predict potential harm and offer the means to prevent it,” the report stated. The conventional solutions for fire safety send alarms and activate fire suppression systems only after a fire has started, becoming hard to control once it is already happening. A better outcome would be to detect an emerging fire event before it takes hold to minimise the risk to life, damage to equipment, production loss, heavy fines, loss of operating license or even the shutdown of the whole operation. The technology has evolved and is now available to prevent all these risks with higher accuracy, real-time monitoring and no other field devices required rather than the fibre cable. Latest research reveals that fibre-
optic technology detects a smouldering event ahead of any conventional gas or infrared detectors with a single cable, offering the lowest total cost of ownership in the long run with no maintenance needed. In the diagram below there is a comparison of the timing involved to detect a fire among different fire safety systems.
This precision is unaffected by wind and other environmental effects, because not only convective (air), but also conductive (surfaces) and radiant (infrared flame) heat is detected by the cable. The system sets early warning of potential fires which allows mining companies to prevent and detect accidents.
Timing involved to detect a fire in different fire safety systems.
FIBRE OPTICS TECHNOLOGY TO DETECT AND PREVENT ACCIDENTS Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) technology uses a laser source through a single fibre optic core measuring four millimetres in diameter and has been successfully tested and deployed in both surface and underground mines. The ruggedised stainless steel fibre optic-based system has the capacity to detect heat build-up quickly and localise the source to within 0.5 metres of accuracy.
SAFETOWORK.COM.AU 42 JUL-AUG 2021
The system can also be fully integrated into the mine site PLC (programmable logic controller), SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) or DCS (distributed control systems), providing a complete set of real-time data for analysis for a reliable, safe and practical solution. The system can utilise new fibre cable or existing fibre optic cables already installed on mining sites. Temperature readings with precise location are transmitted to the site’s system which provides a full temperature profile along the entire
