Coal Mining Safey Technology
Recent developments in wireless tracking technology has provided enormous growth and has opened new doors forcing industries to rethink how they manage their inventory, equipment, and people. While the technology itself may not be new, the cost of production and deployment has fallen to levels that make it more affordable to many industries.
Underground mining is a specific area where this technology is beginning to prove its value. Wireless tracking allows a mining company to “tag” and track all employees, and equipment, when traveling inside of the mine. This information collected then allows the mine operators to increase efficiency by tracking travel routes, heavy traffic areas, and bottlenecks. The greater application of this system lies in disaster recovery. In the event of a mine disaster, the mine operators will have the ability to track the last known location of each miner and increase the overall chance of rescue and recovery.
The “Miner Act” was signed into law by President Bush in June 2006. This act requires that by 2008 all mines have plans made to implement emergency rescue systems. At the current time, there are very few alternatives that supply a total package to mining companies; and those that do supply a total package do so at inflated costs.
Central Mining Technologies (CMT) has established agreements to serve as the sole distribution agent of an established, effective system that is currently deployed in China. The system has been approved by the Chinese government and is reliable, and explosion proof. This system can be quickly introduced to the US market as a cost effective alternative to existing platforms.
Introduction:
Central Mining Technologies has secured the sole North American distributorship for a Zigbee
based miner safety technology system. The system was developed by a Zigbee Technology company in Beijing, and is currently deployed in 3 mines throughout Mainland China. The system has been approved by the China mining regulatory body and deemed as safe and explosion proof. The system has been submitted to MSHAi for approval and it is expect to be approved in the first quarter of 2008. CMT will be the sole marketing and distribution agent for its Zigbee system, secure the proper insurance
System Overview:
The system is composed of several pieces of hardware that communicates with a proprietary software system.
Personal Locator:
Each miner is equipped with a personal locator. This device is small enough that it has no overall impact on the miner’s range of movement or ability to work. It has two way communication abilities and provides a vibration, or audible notification of any change in status.
Base Station:
The mining area is equipped with several base stations. As a personal locator passes within range of the base station, it records to locator that is passing by, as well as other relevant information.
Server/Software:
As the base station records the activities of each miner, the information is sent to the central server. The server then plots the movements in real time and provides management the ability to manage miners for stronger efficiency, as well as their last known coordinates should a disaster occur.
Market Overview:
There are currently over 1000 underground coal mines in the United States, with West Virginia and Kentucky being the traditional leaders in underground production. In total, these mines are managed by fewer than 100,000 employees.
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