Baisheng Nie

The roles of foam ceramics in suppression of gas explosion overpressure and quenching of flame propagation

In order to substantially suppress the shock waves resulting from gas explosions in coal mines as well as to reveal the mechanism of explosion flame quenching by foam ceramics, a rectangular explosion test pipe was designed, which has a 200mm × 200mm cross-section and is similar in shape to the roadways in coal mines. Explosion flame propagation characteristics in empty pipe and in the presence of Al(2)O(3) and SiC foam ceramics were experimentally investigated. To obtain direct observations, the flame propagation was photographed by a high-speed camera. Furthermore, the mechanism of foam ceramics affecting gas explosion propagation was analyzed. The results demonstrate that the foam ceramics attenuate drastically the maximal explosion overpressure by up to fifty percent; the interconnected micro-network structure of the foam ceramics contribute to quenching gas explosion flame and suppressing shock wave overpressure. These important findings hint that, if properly designed and deployed, this material is expected to be developed into a new suppression and isolation technique against multiple and continuous gas explosions that are presently a grave threat to production safety of coal mines across China and the rest of the world.

Passive tomography to image stress redistribution prior to failure on granite

Understanding stress redistribution within rock helps improve the safety and efficiency of mining projects. In order to better understand rock failure mechanism, a granite sample is prepared in a manner that facilitates shear failure along preconceived cracks. The testing process of this method employed several steps. First, the sample is loaded and then monitored in order to study the stress field associated with shear failure. Passive acoustic emissions systems are then used to monitor seismic events during the loading process. The data obtained from the test is processed by using the double-difference location algorithm. The velocity pattern of the sample is then calculated. The distribution of velocity is projected using double-difference tomography. It is shown that the sample failed along the plane where two parallel cracks were prepared. Most of the relocated events were located within or around the plane. The tomograms created from the recorded data accurately image the areas of interest within the rock samples. It is also shown that passive acoustic emissions monitoring systems coupled with double-difference tomography are capable of monitoring and forecasting the failure of rock.

Characteristic researches on receiving antenna of coal-rock electromagnetic emission

Direction characteristic of loop antenna of coal-rock electromagnetic emission is simulated by HFSS software. By comparing the antenna with the metal reflecting flat with the one without the reflecting flat, the research results show that, the signals received by the antenna without the reflecting flat are affected by signals from its back; the gain and direction characteristic of the antenna with the reflecting flat will be improved because signals energy can be controlled to one side. The research can provide foundations for improving the receiving sensitivity of electromagnetic emission and the accuracy of forecasting accuracy of coal-rock disasters.