Massey Energy’s Coal Expo Showcases Latest Safety and Environmental Technology
Strata Safety Products LLC, Portable Fresh Air Bay
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Strata Safety Products LLC, Portable Fresh Air Bay
[Click image to enlarge]
Those in the coal industry got a glimpse of the latest safety and environmental technology at Massey Energy’s Coal Expo Tuesday afternoon. The expo was part of the company’s annual awards at the Charleston Civic Center Tuesday.
During the expo, Massey had one of the safety chambers it uses in case of an underground emergency. The chamber, manufactured by Strata Safety Products, is an inflatable tent that can be set up minutes after a disaster.
“One man can actually deploy this unit,” says Neil Glaze with Strata. “He could walk up to it and within ten minutes, he could have it deployed and be inside.”
Glaze says the tent on display that day contained food, water, medical supplies, and enough breathable oxygen to sustain 24 men for four days. If less than 24 were involved in the accident, the structure could sustain the miners even longer.
Massey also had on display some of the items it uses to monitor the environmental conditions around its surface mines. Among the items was a computer that monitored the flow of coal slurry through pipelines to the site’s slurry impoundment.
Engineer Richard Cyphers said the system was key to making sure Massey minimized its impact on the environment around the site. He explained that potential slurry leaks in the pipeline are monitored through two flow meters on the pipes.
“We install typically two flow meters. One at the prep plant and the other flow meter at the discharge of the line. What we do is we take these two signals and compare them in real time,” Cyphers says.
The engineer says a change in flow could mean there is a leak in the pipe. The system alerts the control operator to two types of leaks in a slurry pipeline called low and high profile leaks. A low profile leak is minor and would cause the system slurry pumps to shutdown in three to five minutes, but a more serious high profile leak means the system is halted instantly.
Cyphers says the job is important to the function of a prep plant and requires someone with a great amount of experience. Someone who takes the job has usually been in the coal industry for a number of years. In addition, he or she receives three to four months of training in the control room itself.
“We wouldn’t put a new hiree in the control room,” says Cyphers. “It’s kind of like the cockpit of an airplane. You’ve got to see the bells and whistles and know how to react to them.”
In addition to the coal expo Tuesday, Massey also gave out its Green Miner Award for the site with the best environmental record and the Bradbury Safety Award for the site with the best safety record. Former Republican Candidate Mike Huckabee was the keynote speaker for the ceremony.
Source: WV Metro News
For more information on Strata’s chamber, CLICK HERE
