National Academies Press: OpenBook

Mines and Bunkers: Volume 10, Fire Safety Aspects of Polymeric Materials (1980)

Chapter: SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

« Previous: INTRODUCTION
Suggested Citation:"SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS." National Research Council. 1980. Mines and Bunkers: Volume 10, Fire Safety Aspects of Polymeric Materials. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18635.
×
Page 7
Suggested Citation:"SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS." National Research Council. 1980. Mines and Bunkers: Volume 10, Fire Safety Aspects of Polymeric Materials. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18635.
×
Page 8
Suggested Citation:"SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS." National Research Council. 1980. Mines and Bunkers: Volume 10, Fire Safety Aspects of Polymeric Materials. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18635.
×
Page 9
Suggested Citation:"SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS." National Research Council. 1980. Mines and Bunkers: Volume 10, Fire Safety Aspects of Polymeric Materials. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18635.
×
Page 10

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

CHAPT E R 2 SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMME NDATIONS 2.1 I ntroduction This chapte r summarizes the conc lusions derived and recom mendations ad­ vanced by the committee after reviewi n g the state of the art and cu rrent, ongoing research efforts . No attempt has been made to ran k these concl usions and recom ­ mendations or to offer quantitative definition of the efforts proposed. General concl usi ons a re presented without associ ated recom mendations fol l owed by specific conclusions and recommen dations, wh ich are a summary of those presented in Chapters 3 th rough 7. For a fu l l expos i tion of the comm ittee's vi ews, the reader is referred to the concl usions and recommendati ons in each chapter. 2.2 General Concl usions 1 . M i n ing is a dangerous operation. Underground m i ning is consi dered to be among the most hazardous occupations today in the United States, with fi re and explosion being among the most feared hazards. A m i ne, in effect, is an undergroun d factory with a maze of corri dors ; it has l ow, fl at roofs and l ong, l i mited escapeways and is dependent on forced ventil ation . This confi n i ng geometry and l i mi ted accessi bi l i ty intensify the fire hazard. 2. Coa l m ines are ca rved out of combusti ble natura l oligomeric and polymeric materi al (coal ) and often contai n a h igh ly fl ammable gas (methane) . The wal ls and roofs of coal m i nes often are fragile and prone to crumbl i ng and erosion. Large amounts of coal dust, wh ich can form an explosive m ixtu re with a i r, a re generated during production. 3. Metal and non-metal mi nes are more nu merous than coal mines and u se m uch more structural ti mber, a highly com busti ble natura l polymeric material. These m i nes often are deeper, have longer egress routes, and have more el aborate, three-d i mensional l ayouts than coa l m i nes. Some of these m ines contain flammable, toxic, or radioactive gases. 4. Al l mi nes are i ncreasingly empl oying more powerful equ i pment for produc­ tion, wheeled transportation, conveying, and constructi on . These m ach i nes use l arge amou nts of high-voltage electricity, are prone to fricti onal overheat­ ing and, thus, represent powerful potential sources of ignition. They also contain la rge amounts of polymeric materials (potential fuels) i n the form of electric insu l ation, hydraulic fl uid and hoses, tires, conveyor belts, l u bricati ng oils and greases, and d iesel fue l . 5 . Mine ventil ation systems a n d mine devel opment tech n i ques a lso reflect in- 7

M I N ES A N D B U N K E R S creasing use of pol ymeric materials (e.g., brattice cl oth and polyurethane foam ) . 6. Bun kers and other underground spaces exist in many forms or constructions and are used for a great diversity of activities. Some are very s i m i l a r to m ines and many findi ngs in th is vol u me apply to these spaces; however, others are underground extensions of h i gh-rise bu i ldi ngs or transportation systems and are at l east parti a l l y covered i n Vol umes 7 and 8 of th is series, respectively. 7. Al l organ ic pol y me rs wi l l burn i f ex posed to a strong enough i gn i tion source and su ppl ied wi th sufficient oxygen . 8 . Absol ute fi re safety o f polymeric materials does not ex ist; there are always trade-offs i n safety, uti l i ty, and cost. 2.3 Specific Condusions and Recommendations 2.3. 1 F i re Dynamics and Scenarios Conclusion: M ine fire scenario deve l opment and analysis is important in provid· i ng the basis for materi a l selection, design cri teri a devel opment, test method valida­ tion , regu lation, personnel training, and research and development efforts. Recom­ mendation: Individu als i nvolved in m i ne fire i nvestigati on, development of design criteria , and di rection of research an d devel opment shoul d be trained to develop and use m i ne fire scen arios. (See Vol. 4) Conclusion: Several basic processes associ ated with the bu rn ing of polymeric materials i n a mine env i ronment are poo rly u n derstood. This lack of k nowledge l i mi ts fire prevention and su ppressi on efforts. Recommendation: Ongo ing fi re re­ search programs shou l d be expanded and accel erated to incl u de : ( 1 ) design an d performance of medi um- and large-scale fi re experi ments fu l l y instru mented to col l ect maximum amounts of data related to combustion, explosion, and tox icity on a d iversity of materi als u n der a variety of spatia l and ventil ation conditions; ( 2 ) development o f scaling factors, knowledge o f size a n d spatia l infl u ences, a n d i n ­ formation o n three-di mens ional effects; (3) deve l opment o f theories, schematic representations, and mathematical and com puter models of all i m portant fi re­ related processes suscept i ble to such treatment. 2.3.2 Materials Conclusion: The selection of materials for use in m i nes and bun kers is of spec ial concern because of the additional hazards i mposed by l i m ited access and egress routes. Sti l l , in selecti ng polymeric materials with i mproved fi re safety characteris­ tics, compet i ng fu nctional, economic, and safety requ i rements must be reconciled. Of particu lar concern are wood (stru ctu ral ti m be r ) , venti l ation cloth , conveyor belts, electrical con ductor insulation, and poly urethane foa m used for stoppings even though a particular material is used i n smal l quantity. Recommendation: The susceptibil ity of a l l these materi als to fire shou l d be su bstanti a l l y d i m i nished or usage sho u l d be stopped : Meth ods to decrease the i gnitabi l ity of wood (e.g., coati ng 8

SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS AN D R E COMM E N DAT I O NS or precharri ng) should be developed. The i gn i tability and rapid flame spread rate of ventilation cloth should be decreased (greatly improved substitutes are available) . Electric conductor insulation should be improved, and acceptance requirements should become more stringent so as to exclude polyvinyl chloride. All insulation should meet the more severe requi rements. The requi rements for foam should be examined and more restrictive specif ications (e.g., that would require polyurethane foam to be replaced wi th something better) should be established. All approved foams should meet the new requi rements. 2.3.3 Design Criteria in M ine Safety and Hazard Control Conclusion: The fragmented approach to design criteria development for mine hazard control is no longer acceptable (See Chapter 3 ) . Recommendstion: Design criteria development in the future should be based on an overall systems approach after advanced research efforts produce the necessary input elements. Conclusion: The fire saf ety of mine operations has i mproved signif icantly during recent years, but several of the advances made require further development, modifi­ cation, or refinement and almost none hav e been i mplemented widely. It should be recogn ized that no study of the cost and benefits of the recommended work h as been made. Recommendstion : Meaningful test methods shou ld be developed f or belt conveyor systems : full-scale f ire tests should be performed and efficient detec­ tion and suppression systems should be perfected. Reliable acceptance test methods should be developed for the rating, selection , and evaluation of conductor insula­ t i ons in the mine environment. The newly developed hydraulic fluids (water-in-o il emulsi on types) should be perfected or a suitable replacement found. The develop­ ment of new types of f ire-sensing instruments should be continued and their appli­ cation augmented. The development of tube bundle technology shou ld be con­ tinued and expanded to other areas of mine f i re safety applications. Spontaneous c om bustion research should be continued and accelerated in antici pati on of the development of deeper seams and the western coal mines. The development of mine f i re prevention and suppression technology should be continued. Development of methods of methane drainage , face ignition quench ing, remote m ine sealing , and f i re and smo ke protection in shafts should be perfected as should coal dust explo­ s i on barriers, sound suppressents, and structural reinforcements. Surface m ining vehicle and machinery f i re protection programs should be more fully utilized . The programs and the systems developed should be applied to large haulage vehicles, augers, drills, shovels, and drag lines. 2.3.4 Smoke and Tox icity Conclusion: Data relating to the toxicity of combustion and pyrolysis products of materials in experi mental or actual fi res are sparse; ava ilable studies are designed only to identify lethal levels. Little is known of the addi tive or synerg i stic effects of t ox ic agents. Recommends tion: A central agency should be established to collect 9

M I NES A N D B U N K E R S and an alyze data and promu lgate i nformation regarding the tox icity of the com bu s­ tion and pyrolysis products of polymeric materials in test and actua l fi res . Studies shou l d cover the i ncapacitati ng effects as wel l as the lethal i ty of i n d iv idual tox ic agents and thei r l i kely com bi nations. Tox icity data on fire victi ms a lso sh ou ld be coll ected by paramedical rescue personnel and medical centers. 10

Next: FIRE DYNAMICS AND SCENARIOS »
Mines and Bunkers: Volume 10, Fire Safety Aspects of Polymeric Materials Get This Book
×
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
Download Free PDF
  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!