Wireless devices allow communication with miners through ground
Friday, April 28, 2006
By Steve Twedt, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Deep inside Consol Energy Co.'s McElroy Mine in Marshall County, W.Va., a small group of men laid out two wire coils in loops yesterday.
The team from Transtek Inc. of Pittsburgh is one of seven field-testing prototype wireless two-way communication systems that, if successful, would enable working miners to talk with people on the surface in real time.
Transtek, for example, has one coil for transmitting and one for receiving, using the earth as a conductor. A company spokesman said the system was successful in a test this spring at 280 feet below the surface at the Lake Lynn Laboratory Experimental Mine in Fayette County.
Following this week's testing, David Chirdon of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration said each of the seven systems "had some positives and some negatives."
The wireless systems were tried at depths up to 700 feet underground, he said. While some got a through-the-earth signal at 200 feet, "we didn't see anything that goes above 300 feet."
With some U.S. mines reaching more than 2,000 feet beneath the surface, those results might seem discouraging -- yet Mr. Chirdon said he could foresee a viable two-way system becoming commercially available in a year or so.
The reason for his optimism: Since the death of 12 miners at Sago Mine No. 1 in Upshur County, W.Va., in January, MSHA officials have fielded more than 100 proposals for underground coal communications systems.
Mr. Chirdon, who heads MSHA's electrical safety division and would evaluate systems for safety, said 10 have formally applied for certification.
Before Sago, MSHA averaged two proposals annually.
Why the change?
Vendors have told Mr. Chirdon they believe mine operators will soon be required to have two-way wireless systems, although MSHA has not yet made such a proposal. Current federal law requires only that mines have "telephones or other two-way communication equipment with instructions for their use."
At Sago, a methane explosion behind a sealed portion of the mine trapped 13 miners. When rescuers reached them 41 hours later, only one miner, Randal McCloy Jr., had survived. Many believe the miners could have been directed to safety had there been a way to communicate with them. The phone line in place was disabled in the blast.
The tragedy has heightened interest in finding a workable system for talking to miners underground.
"Originally we didn't think there was a market for the product in North America. We thought safety was not an issue in North American mines," said Niles Kanno, president and CEO of iPackets International in Vancouver, British Columbia.
This spring, his company sold its first two systems for text message communication inside coal mines in China, where mines -- and mining deaths -- are far more prevalent than in the United States.
Mr. Kanno said his firm's device, called iPMine, was not among those field-tested by MSHA, but he has talked to MSHA officials about submitting it for certification later.
"It's no different than seat belts or air bags. Once it became mandated, you see a number of companies out there doing it."
Luke Popovich, spokesman for the National Mining Association representing the coal industry, said mine operators have not sought wireless two-way systems because "we really haven't found a product that works effectively in most underground coal mines in the United States."
"The reasons for this certainly include the fact that we're a small market for the technology provider and it's an unattractive market for them to make a device that meets our needs and recovers their costs," Mr. Popovich said.
"They're not responsible for mines, they're responsible for making a product. If it's your money, can you recover the investment you're going to make?"
Phil Smith, Mr. Popovich's counterpart at the United Mine Workers of America, said that if the market were there, the products would follow. "It will take the government telling the coal companies 'You must do it,' and therefore it creates a market. But if mine operators aren't required to put them in the mines, the mine operators won't do it."
Because of Sago, MSHA officials took the unusual step of setting up the field tests, and Mr. Chirdon said yesterday that "it's been a great learning process. We've gotten a lot of good information. We found there isn't any single great solution.
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