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Mine Rescue and Survival Interim Report Committee on Mine Rescue and Survival Techniques NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING Washington, D.C. November 1969
This report was prepared under Contract No. S190606, dated 26 February 1969, between the National Academy of Engineering and the U.S. Bureau of Mines of the Department of the Interior. Requests for permission to reproduce or quote from the contents of this publication should be directed to the National Academy of Engineering. Such permission is not required of agencies of the United States Government. Available from National Academy of Engineering 2101 Constitution Avenue Washington, D. C. 20418
NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING The National Academy of Engineering was established in December 1964. The Academy is independent and autonomous in its organization and election of members, and shares in the responsibility given the National Academy of Sciences under its congressional act of incorporation to advise the federal government, upon request, in all areas of sciences and engineering. The National Academy of Engineering, aware of its responsibilities to the government, the engineering community, and the nation as a whole, is pledged: 1. To provide means of assessing the constantly changing needs of the nation and the technical resources that can and should be applied to them; to sponsor programs aimed at meeting these needs; and to encourage such engineering research as may be advisable in the national interest. 2. To explore means for promoting cooperation in engineering in the United States and abroad, with a view to securing concentration on problems significant to society and encouraging research and development aimed at meeting them. 3. To advise the Congress and the executive branch of the government, whenever called upon by any department or agency thereof, on matters of national import pertinent to engineering. 4. To cooperate with the National Academy of Sciences on matters involving both science and engineering. 5. To serve the nation in other respects in connection with significant problems in engineering and technology. 6. To recognize in an appropriate manner outstanding con- tributions to the nation by leading engineers. 111
COMMITTEE ON MINE RESCUE AND SURVIVAL TECHNIQUES WALTER R. HIBBARD, JR., CHAIRMAN, Vice President of Research and Development, Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation ALAN CHAMBERS, Research Scientist, NASA - Ames Research Center B. G. GIEL, M.D. , U.S. Public Health Service GEORGE HAIR, Program Manager, Texas Instruments, Inc. GEORGE V. KELLER, Professor of Geophysics, Colorado School of Mines JEROME LEDERER, Director of Manned Space Flight Safety, National Aeronautics and Space Administration WILLIAM C. MAURER, Senior Research Specialist, Esso Production Research Company W. G. TALMAN, Chief Inspector, Coal Operations, United States Steel Corporation T. N. WILLIAMSON, Research Director, Jacobs Associates STAFF GERALD E. MELOY, Executive Secretary IV
FOREWORD The National Academy of Engineering Committee on Mine Rescue and Survival Techniques was established in March 1969, at the request of the Bureau of Mines to "conduct a study program to assess the technological capabilities that can be applied to survival and rescue techniques following mining disasters. " The Committee was further charged with giving consideration to "improving the effectiveness of new devices and to describing the technological possibilities of new devices or equipment that may make it possible to improve significantly workers chances of survival in the environments that prevail following disasters. " The study is being conducted in three phases: (1) to describe a rescue and survival system that can be developed from existing technology in approximately one year, (2) to describe a system that can be realized with a five-year research and development program, and (3) to plan a research and development program to assure that the latest technological advances are continuously integrated into the operational mine rescue and survival system. This Interim Report, describing a system that can be developed from existing technology, concludes the first phase of the study. The Final Report of the Committee will be sub- mitted to the Bureau of Mines by March 15, 1970.
CONTENTS Introduction 1 Survival Subsystem 3 Communications Subsystem 6 Electromagnetic Communications 6 Seismic Communications 7 Rescue Subsystem 9 Drilling 9 Rescue Teams 10 Systems Engineering 12 Appendix A - Survival Subsystem 15 Appendix B - Communications Subsystem 22 Part 1, Electromagnetic Communications 22 Part 2, Seismic Communications 28 Appendix C - Mine Rescue Drilling Subsystem 38
