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The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)





Mining Project: Advancement of Refuge Alternatives for Underground Coal Mines
Keywords: Emergency communications Heat stress Refuge chambers
This page is archived for historical purposes and is no longer being maintained or updated.
Principal Investigator
David Yantek -  Request informationStart Date
10/1/2015End Date
9/30/2020Objective
To minimize the risk of heat illness for miners that enter a refuge alternative in the event of a mine disaster, to ensure the availability of well-designed air delivery and purging systems for refuge alternatives, to facilitate the use of built-in-place refuge alternatives, and to develop a reliable communications system for use with refuge alternatives.Topic Area
Refuge Chambers
Research Summary

Although refuge alternatives (RAs) have been required in underground mines for nearly 10 years, knowledge gaps remain in several areas. With respect to heat buildup within RAs, concerns remain related to the appropriate heat input to represent miners in an RA, the appropriate heat stress metric to protect miners in a refuge situation, occupancy derating of RAs for warmer mines, conversion of laboratory heat and humidity test results to results that would be representative of in-mine RA use, heat mitigation strategies for RAs, and the effect of fires and explosions on mine temperatures near an RA. Further, in spite of numerous potential advantages of built-in-place (BIP) RAs, their use is not widespread. Guidance on BIP RA air supplies, ventilation systems, and stopping/door system designs are needed to ensure the widespread use of BIP RAs. In addition, although Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) regulations require communications between surface personnel and underground miners inside an RA and an independent additional communications system within the RA, little work has been done to examine communications from within deployed RAs to the surface. Furthermore, most RA manufacturers do not have expertise in radio communications and leave it to the mine operator to integrate the mine communications system with the RA.
The NIOSH Mining Program is addressing the above concerns using a combination of contracts and in-house research. Contracts are addressing the appropriate heat input, heat stress metric, and procedure for adjusting laboratory data to account for mine thermal behavior and post-disaster temperatures. In-house research is developing standard simulated miners for use during RA heat and humidity testing, and to evaluate heat mitigation strategies for RAs. The Mining Program is also performing in-house research to examine blast response of BIP RA stopping/door systems and  determine a reliable method to verify wireless communications from within an RA without having to deploy or enter the RA.
To address BIP RA concerns, the Mining Program is primarily using in-house project research. Research on air delivery and ventilation systems is being performed using NIOSH's newly constructed BIP RA test facility in its Experimental Mine in Bruceton, PA. NIOSH is using a newly developed relief valve test stand to test and develop relief valves for BIP RAs, and finite element analysis software to aid in the design of relief valves and door/stopping systems for BIP RAs. Ultimately, a test apparatus is planned to pressure-test door/stopping systems to 15 psi and to determine their ability to withstand shrapnel resulting from a mine explosion.
This project has research aims related to heat stress in RAs, RA air delivery systems, facilitation of broad use of BIP RAs, and RA communications and tracking.
The research aims related to heat stress include: (1) to identify the appropriate heat input to represent miners that enter an RA; (2) to determine the RA air temperature and relative humidity that cause a body core temperature rise for miners that enter an RA; (3) to develop a standard heat input device for RA heat and humidity testing; (4) to develop a method to use laboratory RA heat and humidity test results to calculate in-mine RA heat and humidity; (5) to examine heat buildup inside BIP RAs; (6) to evaluate heat mitigation strategies for RAs; and (7) to determine the effect of fires and explosions on the mine temperatures near an RA post-disaster.
The research aims related to RA air delivery systems and facilitation of broad use of BIP RAs include: (1) to develop guidelines for the use of boreholes, protected compressed airlines, and cryogenic air supplies for use in mobile and BIP RAs; (2) to develop guidelines for BIP RA ventilation system layout, relief valve design, and contamination ingress prevention strategies within BIP RAs; and (3) to develop practical BIP RA stopping/door systems that can withstand a 15-psi overpressure.
With respect to RA communications, the research aim is to develop reliable communications methods for RAs that provide interoperability with a mine’s primary communications system that can notify surface operations that an RA has been deployed.
Results from this project research will be published in numerous journal articles distributed to industry and policy makers interested in heat stress in RAs, RA air delivery systems, RA communications, and the use of BIP RAs.
**Related Video**: NIOSH Research on Refuge Alternatives for Underground Coal Mines


Heat and Humidity in RAs Publications
A Test Method for Evaluating the Thermal Environment of Underground Coal Mine Refuge Alternatives (journal article—forthcoming)
Analysis of Heat Loss Mechanisms for Mobile Tent-type Refuge Alternatives(journal article)
Effects of Mine Strata Thermal Behavior and Mine Initial Temperatures on Mobile Refuge Alternative Temperature (journal article)
Estimation of Metabolic Heat Input for Refuge Alternative Thermal Testing and Simulation (journal article)
Estimation of Metabolic Heat for Refuge Alternative Testing (conference proceeding)
Facilitating the Use of Built-in-place Refuge Alternatives in Mines (Report of Investigations)
Heat/Humidity Tests of a Built-in-place Refuge Alternative (conference proceeding)
Heat/Humidity Tests of a Built-in-place Refuge Alternative using Simulated Miners (journal article—forthcoming)
Heat Mitigation for Underground Coal Mine Refuge Alternatives Using Cryogenic Air or Borehole Air Supplies (conference proceeding)
In-mine Experimental Investigation of Temperature Rise and Development of a Validated Thermal Simulation Model of a Mobile Refuge Alternative (RA)(conference proceeding)
Interior Thermal Environment of a 6-person Rigid-Type Refuge Alternative (RA) (conference proceeding)
Investigation of Temperature Rise in Mobile Refuge Alternatives (Report of Investigations)
Investigating the Relationship Between Mine Air and Strata Temperature Changes and the Use of Portable Refuge Alternatives (conference proceeding)
Lessons Learned from Refuge Alternative Research by NIOSH: Occupancy Derating of Refuge Alternatives in Underground Coal Mines (trade article)
Portable Refuge Alternatives Temperature and Humidity Tests (journal article)
Prediction of Human Core Temperature Rise and Moisture Loss in Coal Mine RAs (conference proceeding)
Prediction of Human Core Temperature Rise and Moisture Loss in Refuge Alternatives for Underground Coal Mines (journal article)
Temperature and Humidity Rise for 23-person Tent-type Mobile Refuge Alternative (conference proceeding)
Temperature and Humidity Tests for Mobile Refuge Alternatives (conference proceeding)
Temperature Rise within a Mobile Refuge Alternative (RA)—Experimental Investigation and Model Validation (journal article)
The Effects of Seasonal Heat and Humidity on Mine Strata Temperatures in Underground Coal Mines (conference proceeding—forthcoming)
Validation of Temperature and Humidity Thermal Model of 23-person Tent-type Refuge Alternative (journal article)
RA Contamination Ingress, Purging, and Relief Valves Publications
Evaluation of Contamination Ingress for Built-in-place Refuge Alternatives (conference proceeding)
Refuge Alternatives Relief Valve Testing and Design (journal article)
Refuge Alternatives Relief Valve Testing and Design with Updated Test Stand (journal article)
RA Communications Publications
Considerations for Communications Systems in Underground Refuge Alternatives (conference proceeding)
E-Fields of Electrode-Based Through-The-Earth (TTE) Communication (conference proceeding)
Mathematical Modeling and Measurement of Electric Fields of Electrode-based Through-the-earth (TTE) Communication (journal article)
Simulation and Measurement of Medium Frequency Signals Coupling From a Line to a Loop Antenna (journal article)
Simulation and Measurement of Through-the-earth (TTE), Extremely Low-Frequency Signals using Copper-clad, Steel Ground Rods (journal article)
General RA Topics Publications
Overview of NIOSH Research on Built-in-place Refuge Alternatives in Underground Coal Mines(journal article)
Additional RA Information
NIOSH Mining Topic: Refuge Chambers
Refuge Alternative Partnership
NIOSH Mining Project: Investigation of Enhanced Refuge Alternatives
Evaluating the Use of Stretchers in Two Mobile Refuge Alternatives (forthcoming)
Page last reviewed: January 5, 2021
Page last updated: May 9, 2019
Content source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Mining Program
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