Publisher's Synopsis
Underground mining has the characteristics such as complex mining technology, poor visibility and sightlines, bad work condition and frequent geological disasters. It is the inevitable trend for the development of mining to innovate traditional mining industry by using modern high technologies to mitigate the deficiency. Establishing reliable communication is a very difficult task for underground mining due to the extreme environmental conditions. Nevertheless, wireless sensors are considered to be promising candidates for communication devices for underground mine environment. Hence, they can be useful for several applications dealing with the mining industry such as Miners' tracking, prevention of fatal accident between men and vehicles, providing warning signals when miner entering the unsafe area, monitoring underground gases, message communication, etc. A prolonged exposure of people to unfavorable thermal conditions inevitably leads to increase in body temperature and consequently producing physiological effects that affect the work efficiency. Adequate illumination is crucial in underground coal and metal/nonmetal mine safety because miners depend most heavily on visual cues to detect hazards associated with falls of ground, slips/trips/falls (STFs), moving machinery, and other threats. For as long as underground mining has been performed, illumination has been critical to both safety and to the ability of the miners to perform their work. This volume discusses the changes that new legislation and regulations are making to the industry and current research that is producing technologies to make mining safer and will likely impact the future of mining. After a number of unfortunate underground mining disasters, the vital importance of communications for underground mining is outlined. In mine, communication requires complete coverage inside the mine galleries, increasing system reliability and higher transmission rates for faster data throughput. It is extremely important for information to be conveyed to and gathered from every point of mine due to both safety and productivity reasons. The main trends in technologies and other necessary measures to overcome the risks at underground coal mines are presented. This volume is addressed to researchers and professionals who work in the fields of underground mining technology, rock engineering or mine management.
