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ABSTRACT
Fume events in coalmines are typically associated with wet conditions, soft ground and deep holes.
An ACARP research project used laboratory and field testing combined with literature reviews,
numerical models and field investigations to characterise the influence of these conditions on the
propensity for fume. This paper highlights the results for soft ground and wet conditions and
proposes a proactive fume mitigation methodology. A simple numerical model is used to show
how fume arises in soft rock that yields more under the loading of high-pressure, water-resistant
explosive blends than for ANFO. The blends cool more rapidly after detonation into the lower
temperature zone favourable for NO2 production. Low-pressure, high detonation temperature
explosives are loaded or charged into soft ground. Water resistance must be considered because
soft, faulted and fractured ground can lead to fume from degradation by water flow and non-ideal
detonation of product in cracks.
A suite of tests were developed to quantify ANFO and emulsion blend performance over time
that can be carried out in a mobile laboratory on-site. Index tests such as viscosity measurement and
water resistance in beakers are proposed to quantify long-term product performance because small
components, such as surfactant, prill impurities and prill fines, contribute to inconsistent product
performance. Water ingress experiments and detonation tests aligned with field investigations
identified and characterised the role of groundwater in damaging ANFO and causing fume.
Fume risk management is achieved using a proposed proactive fume mitigation methodology to
characterise influences such as seasonal rain variation, groundwater flow hydrogeology, rock mass
strength and structure well ahead of blast design. The design of blasts and selection of explosive
products to consider expected conditions will reduce fume, improve efficiency in the mine and
offer cost advantages.
INTRODUCTION
The deleterious effects of post-blast fumes were reported as testing the explosive products and the development of a more
early as 1916 in a medical journal (Irvine, 1916). At that stage, proactive fume mitigation methodology.
gas poisoning accounted for a good many deaths in the mines
every year. Considerable work has been done since then to FUME PRODUCTION FROM DETONATION
identify the main chemical reactions and physical characteristics,
such as confinement, that influence fume production. Onederra The reasons for NO2 production from the detonation of
et al (2012) attributed the majority of fume to wet conditions, ammonium nitrate-based explosives are documented in many
soft ground and deep holes. They suggested the development papers (eg Rowland III and Mainiero, 2000). The following four
of instrumentation to quantify the environment and charging chemical equations represent the detonation of stoichiometric
characteristics in situ. In parallel, the industry has provided balanced ANFO, fuel-lean ANFO, fuel-rich ANFO and
guidelines to minimise fume production by improving blast deflagration of ammonium nitrate (AN) respectively (Scott,
practices and suggesting risk management approaches (eg 2009; DEEDI, 2014):
DEEDI, 2014). In practice, the blast designer and shotfirer are
3NH4NO3 + CH2 " 3N2 + 7H2O + CO2 (1)
unable to quantify the risk as there are limited tools available
to test and characterise the explosive and ground conditions.
The development of on-bench testing, in-hole measurements 5NH4NO3 + CH2 " 4N2 + 2NO + 11H2O + CO2 (2)
and more thorough characterisation of ground conditions were
investigated in ACARP project C23106. Some of the outcomes 2NH4NO3 + CH2 " 2N2 + 5H2O + CO (3)
of that project are described in this paper, including focusing
on the characterisation of wet conditions and soft ground, 3NH4NO3 + NH4NO3 " 2NO2 + 3N2 + 8H2O (4)
1. GAusIMM, Mining Engineer, JKTech Pty Ltd, 40 Isles Road, Indooroopilly Qld 4068. Email: l.julian@jktech.com.au
2. MAusIMM, Mining Engineer, JKTech Pty Ltd, 40 Isles Road, Indooroopilly Qld 4068. Email: a.munsunuri@jktech.com.au
3. MAusIMM(CP), Principal Mining Engineer, JKTech Pty Ltd, 40 Isles Road, Indooroopilly Qld 4068. Email: e.sellers@jktech.com.au
4. MAusIMM, Mining Consulting Manager, JKTech Pty Ltd, 40 Isles Road, Indooroopilly Qld 4068. Email: s.kanchibotla@jktech.com.au
11TH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ROCK FRAGMENTATION BY BLASTING / SYDNEY, NSW, 2426 AUGUST 2015 511
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MITIGATION OF POST-BLAST FUME IN SOFT GROUND AND WET CONDITIONS
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AN prill size distribution using sieves and a flatbed water, forming a conduit through the moisturiser and leaving
scanner a honeycomb structure (Figure 7b). Since the detonation of
water content of blends by Karl Fischer titration the blend is driven by pore collapse in the prills, the loss of
prill to emulsion ratio of blends. prill structure will reduce sensitivity and lead to low-order
As it is difficult to send samples to a distant laboratory for detonation within the remaining emulsion. The ingress
practical quality assurance of product at a mine, a mobile rate was found to depend on the amount of emulsion
laboratory was developed in an air-conditioned trailer with coating. Honeycombing was also observed on-site in a real
its own fume hood and power (Cavanough et al, 2013). 50 per cent ANE HANFO exposed to water over a period of
Practical operating procedures were then developed at a 12hours (Figure7c) and is probably a contributor to the poor
coalmine in the Bowen Basin. The testing identified that high performance of this product in the statistical analysis (Figure3).
accuracy is required and fuel content should be measured to
properly constrain the raw material ratios within the product WATER INGRESS TESTING
and identify the oxygen balance. The project identified other Groundwater ingress though seams (Figure 8a) was identified
explosive properties as being important to the prevention of in the mining visits and hydrology report (Reading, 2014)
fume. Oil adsorption testing performed by Zygmunt and as being crucial to the understanding of fume mitigation.
Buczkowski (2007) identified that velocity of detonation (VOD) Groundwater flowing along aquifers may create a number
and detonation performance improved with AN prill oil of water flow conditions on the blast pattern (Figure 8b).
adsorption. Prill fines can contribute to fume and can be readily Holes 1 and 2 indicate closed holes that act as stand pipes
determined from sieve tests and image analysis. Prill water with similar water dip levels. The surface may be below, in or
content and prill purity tests are needed as trace elements and above the aquifer, depending on the water pressure. Adjacent
water content are known to increase fume propensity. holes (hole 3) may drain into other seams or coal layers and
Previous fume testing and research has ignored the role of the appear dry but have water flowing along the sides. Other
emulsifying surfactant that maintains the water in oil matrix holes (hole 4) may be recharging slowly, meaning that dip
and integrity of the oxidiser. Sanatkaran and Masalova (2015) levels do not indicate the flow of water on the sides. A typical
found that the type, blend and quantity of the surfactants can coal blast is loaded with a bottom charge of water-resistant
greatly vary emulsion rheology, sleep time and performance product to prevent water ingress and a deck of ANFO above
under shear conditions. Aging times ranged from 16 to 45 days to save costs (hole 5). Contrary to expectations, the longer,
for three different surfactants and fell further to between zero non-water-resistant ANFO deck will more likely be in contact
and ten days after five cycles of pumping. Thus, it is vital to test with seams containing flowing or pressurised water. The effect
the product actually produced by the mobile manufacturing of water ingress on ANFO already in place and the efficiency
unit because many small chemical and physical processes can of proactive measures for sealing blastholes against water
alter the performance of the product actually delivered down ingress from aquifers and rain (hole 6) using water-resistant
the hole. Future research can identify the relationship between explosive blends or other systems such as gas bags needed to
fume emission and impurity chemistry. be investigated.
Beaker water ingress tests are proposed as an index test To determine the effect of flowing groundwater on the
for the quantification of long-term water resistance. Due to explosive product and perform water ingress testing in a
the legal and safety restrictions on handling explosives and more realistic environment, two groundwater simulators
explosive precursors, water ingress testing was investigated in were designed and constructed to simulate slow and fast
the laboratory using inert substitutes. Urea prill and paraffin- water ingress (Figure 9a). Five minutes after water is added
based moisturiser imitated the physical characteristics of AN to the slow ingress test containing ANFO (Figure 9b), water
prill and emulsion respectively. On-site, arrangements need starts flowing down the side of the pipe and limited slumping
to be made to store, monitor and dispose of the explosive is observed. The fast ingress results in water across the entire
products to meet explosive regulatory requirements. hole and immediate slumping. In another test, left overnight,
Approximately 75 ml of each blend was placed in each the slow ingress (Figure 9c) showed slumping and water,
beaker, which was then filled with 125 ml of green-coloured but fuel separation though the prill structure seems intact. In
water (Figure 7a) and filmed using time-lapse photography. contrast, the ANFO in the fast ingress tester dissolved totally
In the various blends, the prills gradually dissolved in the and leaked away (not shown).
FIG 7 (A) Beaker test on pseudo blend; (B) honeycombing in the pseudo 50 percent blend;
(C) honeycombing in the 50 percent ammonium nitrate emulsion (ANE) heavy ANFO.
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FIG 9 (A) Water ingress test units; (B) after five minutes in ANFO dynamic ingress (left) and trickle ingress (right); (C) trickle ingress overnight in ANFO.
11TH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ROCK FRAGMENTATION BY BLASTING / SYDNEY, NSW, 2426 AUGUST 2015 515
L JULIAN et al
even though video had confirmed the absence of cracks in has little effect on detonation velocity, although it introduces
the stem zone. This implies leakage alongside the product. increasing fume. Saturation without drainage prevents
Unfortunately, the blast was fired sooner than planned and detonation.
long-term data on the other holes could not be obtained. The presence of fume immediately after the detonation was
captured in the multiple exposures of the high-definition
DETONATION TESTING video stills immediately after the detonation, as shown in
Once there is water ingress, it is necessary to understand Figure 13. The most significant fume observed occurred in
how much will cause fume. Detonation tests were performed ANFO rinsed with 2 L of acid, which also had one of the highest
on 20 kg of ANFO in 1.5 m lengths of 150 mm diameter VOD measurements. This shows that low-order detonation
PVC pipes and recorded using a high-speed camera, high- is not the only reason for fume and that contaminants may
definition camera, infrared camera and Microtrap VOD contribute in ways not yet understood.
recorder. Some pipes were sealed while others were allowed Soft ground is often associated with cracking and cavities
to drain. The VOD results for each saturation test are shown that can intersect blastholes. ANFO can flow into these cavities
in Figure 11. Ultra high-speed video at 64 000 frames per that are far less than the products critical diameter (Maniero,
second (Figure 12) identified clear differences between the 2007). To test this hypothesis, wedges were constructed using
detonations; the detonation front can be seen deteriorating a section of 150 mm PVC pipe and two sections of 3 mm thick
as the exposure of ANFO to water increased. At detonation plywood and loaded with ANFO. The significant production
velocities of 3000m/s, only about 25 percent of the product is of fume, as shown in Figure 14, confirms that this reduction
reacting as per Equation 1 (Sellers, 2013), with the remaining
in detonation quality is a cause of fume events in soft and
low-order detonation or deflagration producing fumes. Up
fractured ground.
to 30 per cent of water by mass draining through the pipe
FIG 12 (A) ANFO rinsed with 2 L of water; (B) ANFO rinsed with 6 L of water; (C) ANFO rinsed with
2 L of acid; (D) ANFO rinsed with 5 L of acid; (E) ANFO saturated with water.
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A A
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L JULIAN et al
and fractured ground can lead to fume from non-ideal Furtney, J K, Sellers, E and Onederra, I, 2013. Simple models for the
detonation of product in cracks as well as from degradation complex process of rock blasting, in Proceedings 10th International
of the product due to water flow through the broken ground. Symposium on Rock Fragmentation by Blasting Fragblast 10 (eds:
PK Singh and A Sinha), pp 275282 (Balkema: Rotterdam).
Field studies showed that last-minute changes to a blast
Hughbanks, T, 2015. Introduction to chemical kinetics [online], Texas
pattern to add water-resistant product during rain does not
A&M University. Available from: <http://www.chem.tamu.
necessarily mitigate the production of fume. Such changes edu/rgroup/hughbanks/courses/102/slides/slides15.pdf>
are considered to be too late to prevent fume. Detonation of [Accessed: 15 January 2015].
ANFO in pipes with various quantities and rates of water
Irvine, L G, 1916. Gassing accidents from the fumes of explosives,
ingress showed how damage to the product can be done
British Medical Journal, 29 January, pp 162166.
almost instantaneously. The adoption of a more proactive
fume mitigation methodology is suggested. Blasts should be Maniero, R J, Harris, M L and Rowland III, J H, 2007. Dangers of
toxic fumes from blasting, in Proceedings 33rd Annual Conference
designed ahead of time for expected conditions, including
on Explosives and Blasting Techniques, Volume 1, Nashville
possible rainfall and long-term groundwater seepage that (International Society of Explosives Engineers: Cleveland).
may arise some months after the end of the rainy season. This
approach will reduce fume, improve efficiency on the mine Onederra, I, Bailey, V, Cavanough, G and Torrance, A, 2012.
Understanding the main causes of nitrogen oxide fumes in
and offer cost advantages.
surface blasting, Mining Technology, 121(3):151159.
Reading, L, 2014. Investigating water flows into blast holes, report for
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS JKTech, Centre for Water in the Minerals Industry, Sustainable
The authors acknowledge the funding from the Australian Minerals Institute, University of Queenland.
Coal Industrys Research Program (ACARP) as part of project Rowland III, J H and Mainiero, R, 2000. Factors affecting ANFO
C23016. Gary Cavanough and Miguel Araos are thanked fume production [online], Centers for Disease Control and
for their contribution to testing. Site teams, Steve Simmons, Prevention. Available from: <http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/
Vishwa Bhushan, Lindsay Ford and Keith Smith are thanked mining/userfiles/works/pdfs/faafp.pdf> [Accessed: 15 June
for their support and assistance. 2014].
Sanatkaran, N and Masalova, I, 2015. Interfacial behaviour of oil/
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