Abstract
AS the coal mines of Great Britain were mechanized, the standard practice became to undercut the coal seam by means of a coalcutting machine and then to bring down the coal by drilling holes in the seam above the cut, inserting charges of ‘permitted explosives’ and then detonating these. This method of winning coal, however, suffers from grave disadvantages. Every shot that is fired is a potential danger, especially when detonation results in what is technically known as a blown-out shot. Even if no explosion results, the cloud of coal dust produced tends to mako the mine atmosphere unpleasant and dangerous. Furthermore, when shots are being fired, the workmen must be withdrawn from the coal face to a place of safety, thus interrupting work. Finally, the shock of the explosion may damage the roof so that the men on returning to the face are confronted with a changed set of conditions which may be very dangerous, especially when the roof is friable. When it is realized that in a single colliery 100,000 shots may be fired per annum, the magnitude of the potential danger is obvious.
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HARVEY, A. Coalbursting. Nature 144, 872–873 (1939). https://doi.org/10.1038/144872a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/144872a0