Wireless Detonators for Sequential Underground Rock Blasting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Underground mining operations face challenges in efficient rock fragmentation and extraction due to the complexity of blasting methods, which require skilled labor, precise planning, and often result in leaving valuable ore behind to maintain structural integrity, and the need for multiple access points and team coordination, leading to inefficiencies and increased costs.
Innovation Solution
A method involving drilling boreholes, loading them with explosive charges, and using wireless detonators for sequential initiation events to fragment rock without personnel access, allowing for selective blasting and extraction from multiple directions, thereby reducing the need for multiple access points and improving operational efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If wired blasting arrangements are used with physical connections between detonators and blasting machines, then reliable signal transmission is achieved, but the complexity of setup and safety risks increase due to manual wiring requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical wiring system with a wireless communication system. Detonators communicate with blasting machines via wireless signals, eliminating the need for physical electrical connections. This substitution maintains signal transmission reliability while dramatically reducing setup complexity and safety risks associated with manual wiring.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces wireless communication as an intermediary between the blasting machine and detonators. This intermediary enables signal transmission without direct physical contact, allowing reliable control while simplifying the overall system setup and reducing the skills required for installation.
2Manufacturing precision
If multiple access points and teams are used for underground blasting operations, then comprehensive rock fragmentation is achieved, but operational efficiency decreases due to coordination requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the blasting operation into multiple programmable initiation events with predetermined time delays. Different groups of explosive charges can be initiated in sequence through electronic detonators with precise timing control, achieving comprehensive rock fragmentation from single access points without requiring multiple teams to coordinate manually.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the control parameter from manual coordination between multiple teams to automated temporal sequencing through electronic timing circuits. By programming initiation events with precise time delays, the system achieves coordinated fragmentation patterns that previously required multiple access points and teams, thereby improving productivity.
3Reliability
If valuable ore is left behind to maintain structural integrity during blasting, then safety is improved, but resource loss increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by selectively initiating different groups of explosive charges in different initiation events. Electronic detonators with programmable delays allow precise control over which charges fire at which time, enabling the system to maintain structural integrity in critical areas while extracting ore from non-critical zones, thereby reducing overall ore loss while preserving safety.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enhances the efficiency and safety of underground blasting by enabling selective and remote control of detonators, allowing for more comprehensive rock fragmentation and extraction without the need for continuous personnel presence, reducing waste, and optimizing ore retrieval.
Implementation Method 1
Actuation of the charges by means of associated detonators fragments a portion of the rock behind the free face
Data Source
AI summary
A method of blasting rock at an underground blast site in which boreholes (11a, b, c) are drilled in a rock mass 10 from a drive defining face 12, each borehole is loaded with at least one charge of explosive material (13a-c, 14a-c, 15a-c), at least one detonator is placed in operative association with each charge, and a sequence of at least two initiation events is conducted to blast the rock mass, in each of which only some of the charges are initiated, by sending firing signals to only the detonators associated with said charges and in which each initiation event is a discrete user-controlled initiation event. In one of the at least two initiation events a stranded portion of the rock mass such as a pillar is created that has already been drilled and charged, and the stranded portion of the rock mass is blasted in a subsequent one or more of the at least two initiation events without personnel accessing said stranded portion. First explosive charges (13a, b, c and 15a, b, c) may be blasted in the one initiation event, leaving a pillar of stranded ore with the preloaded borehole 11b extending through it. The detonators may be wireless.