A mine safety emergency refuge chamber, manufactured by Brain Industries, was on show at the Hunter Business Chamber’s Hunter Business Mining event in Newcastle in March.
The 4 person chamber is one of a range of chambers that Brain makes for its client, mining safety systems supplier, Strata Worldwide.
Strata Worldwide Australia is the new sponsor of the popular luncheon series. It brought the mobile refuge chamber to the event.
Brain managing director said Gillian Summers said Brain commonly manufactures 4, 10 and 20 person chambers. but can customise the chambers to meet mining, civil construction and tunnel companies’ needs. Ms Summers said her team supplies alternative design options for specific applications and geographical locations.
“Emergency refuge chambers or emergency refuge shelters are a must have piece of mine safety equipment for underground coal mine and hard rock mines and in tunnels,” Ms Summers said.
The emergency refuge shelters are also used in tunnels and tunnel construction projects,” she said.
“We help Strata to set the standard in mine safety and tunnel safety.”
What is an emergency refuge chamber?
Emergency refuge chambers give workers immediate refuge where safe escape is not possible following a mine failure or tunnel failure.
The chambers that Brain make for Strata include stand alone or chambers that can attach to mains power,
water and compressed air. They all have a CO2 Scrubber which is electrically powered or air powered.
How do emergency refuge chambers improve mine safety?
The chambers provide breathable air, food, light and water for up to 30 people for up to 96 hours (depending upon the model chosen).
The shelters help save lives by protecting people trapped in mines and tunnels following a ventilation failure or a sudden release of toxic gas, when evacuation is not possible.
They don’t protect individuals from rock falls, fires or floods and shouldn’t be used as break rooms.
Who uses emergency refuge chambers?
Brain manufactured chambers can save lives in tunnels, hard rock mines and underground coal mines.
Genius mine safety chamber design – the Brain Industries’ Difference
Brain’s design and genius thinking means it can offer high quality, more efficient, chambers for less money than many competitors. Here are 4 ways Brain emergency refuge chambers are innovative.
- Walls insulation to reduce the number of batteries required. Air conditioning is the biggest drain on the batteries.
- Inverter redesign. Should the main electricity power stop to the chamber, the inverter recognises this and kicks in. Brain has also collaborated with a solar power company to tune the inverter so that batteries are not to run below 30%, prolonging the life of these expensive components.
- New carbon monoxide scrubber. Instead of reinventing the wheel, Brain has adapted a scrubber developed by NASCAR which costs three times less than the system used by competitors.
- One big red button. This button activates all systems rather than workers reading notes to manually start each system.
Hunter Business Mining
The quarterly Hunter Business Mining forum is for mining and mining related business. High profile industry speakers provide insights into the Australian and global resources sector.
