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The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)





Mining Contract: Atmospheric Analysis of Refuge Alternatives
Keywords: Refuge chambers
This page is archived for historical purposes and is no longer being maintained or updated.
Contract #
08FED898354Start Date
10/1/2008End Date
7/31/2010Research Concept
The goal of this research was to gain an improved understanding of allowable/safe CO2 concentrations and scrubbing methods, methods to remove CO in case of complete chamber contamination, and the effect of chamber design, occupancy, and ambient mine conditions on chamber heat and humidity.Topic Area
Refuge Chambers
Contract Status & Impact
This contract is complete.
No final report was generated for this contract. For further information, send a request to mining@cdc.gov.
This contract was funded as part of an interagency agreement program, which provides a formal means for federal government agencies to share and further technology that could apply to and benefit mine safety and health. OMSHR identifies other government agencies with the knowledge, skills, and abilities relevant to a health and safety gap and works collaboratively with these agencies to identify the type of technology solution desired and to determine specifications for this technology.
This contract involved three tasks:
Task 1:  Initial results, based on NASA's extensive experience in manned space craft flight, indicated that the metabolic rates used for CO2 exhalation and O2 inhalation to design, test, and approve refuge alternatives were at the high end of the range expected for this population and on the conservative side. NASA guidance on CO2 concentrations is currently 0.7% over 7 days, a situation similar to the mine refuge situation of 0.5% over 96 hours.
Task 2:  A list of potential CO scrubbing methods was generated, a protocol for testing the efficiency of these methods to remove varying concentrations of CO was developed, and test equipment was modified and tested. Laboratory scale evaluations were also completed.
Task 3:  A computer program was modified and  used to generate an analysis of heat within a refuge alternative as the exterior temperature increases. A number of parameters were adjusted, such as initial chamber temperature, mine ambient temperature, occupant metabolic rate, scrubber heat load, and chamber characteristics. Beta testing and final simulations were completed.
See Also
Emergency Escape and Refuge Alternatives
Guidelines for Instructional Materials on Refuge Chamber Setup, Use, and Maintenance
How to Operate a Refuge Chamber: A Quick Start Guide
NIOSH Docket Number 125: Refuge Alternative Research
Recommendations for Refuge Chamber Operations Training
Refuge Alternatives in Underground Coal Mines
Technology News 537 - NIOSH Develops New Mine Refuge Chamber Training
Underground Mine Refuge Chamber Expectations Training: Program Development and Evaluation
When Do You Take Refuge? Decisionmaking During Mine Emergency Escape
Work-Principle Model for Predicting Toxic Fumes of Nonideal Explosives
Page last reviewed: April 4, 2017
Page last updated: July 16, 2016
Content source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Mining Program
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