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Proceedings of the 11th International Mine Ventilation Congress pp 397–409Cite as

A Practical Comparison of Active and Passive Explosion Barrier

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Abstract

Methane gas and coal dust explosions are a constant risk hazard during coal mining. Various mitigation controls are used today. The primary differentiation will be controls to either prevent an explosion or to stop an explosion once it has ignited. Common explosion controls will be active or passive explosion barriers. These barriers will be incorporated either in legislation or a mine’s Code of Practice. Both types of barriers have been tested according to accepted protocols. These protocols would attend to the requirement of a barrier to stop an explosion. The protocol will however not attend to the aspects concerning practicality, efficiency, maintainability, lifecycle costs and most importantly reliability and damage control. This paper will discuss aspects concerning the implementation and maintenance of active and passive barriers. The paper will furthermore outline the difference in function, thereby highlighting the difference in reliability and damage control.

Keywords

  • Active explosion barrier
  • Passive explosion barrier
  • Explosion mitigating control

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. ExploSpot Systems (Pty) Ltd, Pretoria, 0081, South Africa

    Arend Spaeth

  2. Anglo American Coal, Brisbane, 4001, Australia

    Bharath Belle

Authors
  1. Arend Spaeth
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  2. Bharath Belle
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Arend Spaeth .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China

    Xintan Chang

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© 2019 Science Press and Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

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Spaeth, A., Belle, B. (2019). A Practical Comparison of Active and Passive Explosion Barrier. In: Chang, X. (eds) Proceedings of the 11th International Mine Ventilation Congress. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1420-9_34

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