Mine Ventilation Quiz 1

Question 1

There is evidence to suggest that the need to establish ventilation circuits with intake and return airways was understood and practiced by the Greeks.

Answer 1

Pre Middle Ages

Question 2

Mine ventilation practices of the day are illustrated and described in “De Re Metallica”, by Georgius Agricola, 1556. This was amongst the first books ever printed and remained a standard mining text for the next 200 years.

Answer 2

Middle Ages - Industrial Revolution

Question 3

Who wrote “De Re Metallica” which was published in 1556?

Answer 3

Gerogius Agricola/Georg Bauer

Question 4

This book describes horse and human powered centrifugal fans; bellows connected to wooden conduits, ventilation doors and shaft collar deflectors, which divert winds into the mine workings.

Answer 4

De Re Metallica

Question 5

This period saw an unprecedented increase in demand for mineral commodities including coal, metalliferous ores and industrial minerals. Substantial growth in mining activity, (much of it underground) was required
to satisfy this new demand.

Answer 5

Industrial Revolution – Information Age

Question 6

Larger scale mining led to increasing numbers of miners suffering from health problems contributed to by poor ventilation. Enumerate the 3 problems may arise due to poor ventilation.

Answer 6

1. black lung
2. mine explosions
3. fires

Question 7

Who is the British mining agent whom presented his famous paper “On the Theory of the Ventilation of Mines” in 1854 and _______’s Equation still forms the basis for all mine ventilation engineering.

Answer 7

John Atkinson

Question 8

The most notable feature has been the development of computerized mine ventilation network analysis. This has made prediction of fan requirements and airflow distributions in complex mine ventilation circuits feasible using
desktop computers.

Answer 8

Information Age

Question 9

A type of gas detectors, which is the first detector that was used, and was commonly used by miners to help alert them to the presence of toxic vapors such as the odorless carbon monoxide in hazardous areas of underground mining pits.

Answer 9

Canary Bird

Question 10

A type of gas detectors encapsulated in a flame-arrestor shell so that there was no way the flame could ignite the outside atmosphere. On the outside of it was a glass piece that had three incisions running horizontally along the glass.

Answer 10

Flame Light

Question 11

This sensor is made of two platinum wires positioned within a ceramic mass. Both wires are connected to a Wheatstone bridge circuit. Part of the ceramic mass contains a bead catalyst
responsible for oxidation and an additional ceramic bead that will inhibit the process of
oxidation.

Answer 11

Pellistor

Question 12

A type of gas detector engineered with a dual beam, have become the preferred method to monitoring gas. Carry a wide measurement range which allows for the detection of gas concentrations from a few parts per million to 100%. There is a rapid response rate, approximately 0.1 seconds from the time it takes for the gas to enter the analyzer to the time it takes to measure the gas concentration.

Answer 12

Infrared Led Gas Detectors

Question 13

Enumerate the History of Mine Ventilation

Answer 13

1. Ability of fire to promote airflow was discovered
2. Need for a connected ventilating circuit was discovered
3. Sending of fireman covered with damped sack cloth to burn out methane became a common method for removing methane
4. Use of Steel Flint Mill for illuminating mines
5. Introduction of “Dumb Drifts”
6. Invention of Davy Lamp
7. Discovery of panel ventilation innovation
8. “Theory of the ventilation of mines” was presented by Atkinson to the Institute of Mining Engineers in England
9. John Job Atkinson’s Principles on mine ventilation were put into practice
10. Use of analogue computers to facilitate ventilation planning

Question 14

What does the early flint miners built at the working faces of the mines?

Answer 14

Brushwood fires

Question 15

A common method of removing methane was to send a _____ in before each shift, covered in sack cloths dowsed in water and carrying a candle on the end of a long rod. It was his task to burn out the methane before the miners went into the working faces.

Answer 15

fireman

Question 16

John Buddle (1773-1843), an eminent mining engineer in the north of England, produced two significant improvements. What is it?

Answer 16

1. Dumb Drifts
2. Panel Ventilation

Question 17

Originally, air flowed sequentially through work areas, one after the other, continually increasing in methane concentration.

Answer 17

Panel Ventilation

Question 18

Who produced another classical paper advancing understanding of the behavior of airflow by using thermodynamic analyses?

Answer 18

Professor F. B. Hinsley

Question 19

This device relied on a piece of flint being held against a rapidly revolving steel wheel. The latter was driven through a gear mechanism by a manually rotated handle. Invented by Carlisle Spedding.

Answer 19

steel flint mill

Question 20

Within a short period of experimentation he found that the flame of burning methane would not readily pass through a closely woven wire mesh. The Davy lamp had arrived in 1815.

Answer 20

Humphrey Davy

Question 21

Enumerate and arrange the mine gases from the top to the bottom.

Answer 21

1. Methane
2. Carbon Monoxide
3. Air
4. Oxygen
5. Carbon Dioxide
6. Hydrogen Sulfide

Question 22

Air is composed of?

Answer 22

78% Nitrogen
21% Oxygen
1% other gases

Question 22

Important Properties of Air:

Answer 22

1. It takes up space
2. It has mass
3. It is affected by temperature
4. It exerts pressure
5. It can be compressed
6. It is affected by the altitude

Question 23

The weight of a ratio of a specific gas compared to the same ratio of air.(Air = 1.000)

Answer 23

Specific Gravity/Vapor Density

Question 24

Cold gases will diffuse slowly, hot gases will diffuse quickly

Answer 24

Temperature

Question 25

The rate of diffusion, the lower the specific gravity, the faster it will diffuse

Answer 25

Graham’s Law

Question 26

The lower the pressure, the faster a gas will diffuse.

Answer 26

Barometric Pressure

Question 27

The ability to dissolve in water (taste and/or smell)

Answer 27

Solubility

Question 28

The amount of vapor that can exist in the air at a temperature.

Answer 28

Humidity

Question 29

It is expressed as a percent, measures water vapor, but RELATIVE to the temperature of the air.

Answer 29

Relative Humidity

Question 30

Explain the relationship of the humidity and temperature.

Answer 30

The relation between humidity and temperature formula simply says they are inversely proportional. If temperature increases it will lead to a decrease in relative humidity, thus the air will become drier whereas when temperature decreases, the air will become wet means the relative humidity will increase.

Question 31

It is composed of different impurities depending on the environment underground. Underground Coal mines for example are known to contain presence of unwanted gases such as Carbon Monoxide, Carbon Dioxide, Methane, Hydrogen Sulphide , Oxides of Nitrogen, etc.

Answer 31

Mine Air

Question 32

The prime air contaminants produced during underground mining are:

Answer 32

1. Dust - danger of dust related diseases such as silicosis and black lung
2. Heat - Heat stress is among such causes which reduces one’s efficiency to do work
3. Mine Gases - (including water vapour i.e. Humidity)

Question 33

The amount of a gas exposure for an 8 hour day for 5 days a week without any harmful effects.

Answer 33

Threshold Limit Value (TLV)

Question 34

The amount of gas at no time a person can be exposed to.

Answer 34

Ceiling Limit

Question 35

The maximum concentration of a gas, in case of SCBA failure, one could escape without any irreversible health effects.

Answer 35

Immediately dangerous to life or health (IDLH)

Question 36

What is SCBA?

Answer 36

Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus

Question 37

The most accurate measurement of a contaminant in the atmosphere.

Answer 37

Parts Per Million (PPM)

Question 38

A type of damp with a mixture of carbon dioxide and nitrogen in a mine can cause suffocation, and is formed as a result of corrosion in enclosed spaces so removing oxygen from the atmosphere.

Answer 38

Black damp

Question 39

A type of damp similar to black damp, consists of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and nitrogen and forms after a mine explosion.

Answer 39

After damp

Question 40

A type of damp consists of mostly methane, a highly flammable gas that explodes between 5% and 15% - at 25% it causes asphyxiation.

Answer 40

Fire damp

Question 41

A type of damp named from the rotten egg smell of the hydrogen sulphide gas, also very toxic.

Answer 41

Stink damp

Question 42

A type of damp air containing carbon monoxide which is toxic, even at low concentrations

Answer 42

White damp

Question 43

A gas that is colorless, has a pungent or acrid smell and a “soda water” taste. It has a specific gravity relative to air of 1.53 (significantly heavier than air) and will not support combustion.

Answer 43

Carbon Dioxide (CO2)

Question 44

A type of gas that is colorless, odorless, tasteless gas, with a specific gravity relative to
air of 1.1.

Answer 44

Oxygen (O2)

Question 45

It is a type of gas, has a high toxicity. Because of this and the fact that it is colorless, odorless and tasteless, it is an extremely dangerous gas. Produced by fires, the oxidation processes (e.g. blasting) and sometimes issues from rock strata (especially in coal mines). It is also a component of combustion engine exhaust emissions.

Answer 45

Carbon Monoxide (CO)

Question 46

A type of gas which covers a mixture of gases usually found together. The most important of these are Nitric Oxide (NO) and Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), both of which are classified as toxic.

Answer 46

Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx)

Question 47

A type of gas that is colorless and even at relatively low concentrations has a pungent, suffocating sulphurous odor, and acidic taste, making it readily detectable. It is highly toxic.

Answer 47

Sulphur Dioxide (SO2)

Question 48

A type of gas, colorless and is readily detected in small concentrations by its unpleasant rotten eggs odor. Unfortunately, continued exposure to the gas (even for relatively short periods of time) leads to paralysis of the olfactory nerves, meaning that the sense of smell cannot thereafter be relied upon.

Answer 48

Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S)

Question 49

A type of gas that is is colorless, odorless and non-toxic. Very dangerous in mines because it forms an explosive mixture with air at concentrations of between 5 and 15 % (it produces an explosion of greatest force at a concentration of 9%).

Answer 49

Methane

Question 50

An old miners’ term for gaseous products formed in coal mines to distinguish them from pure air. Although still in use they are not commonly used in today’s mining.

Answer 50

Damps

Question 51

A type of gas that is colorless, and has a very distinctive, pungent odor (the smell is familiar to those who have used certain disinfectant and window cleaning products).

Answer 51

Ammonia (NH4)