Name Muhammad Younas

Registration No 17PWMI0813
Assignment No 1st
Semester 7th
Subject Mine Ventilation
Submitted to Engr. Muhammad Adil
Date of Submission December 10, 2020
Assignment No. 1 December 10, 2020

Effects of Methane, Carbon monoxide, Carbon dioxide, Hydrogen

Sulfide, Sulphur Dioxide, Hydrogen and Radon on Mine Ventilation.
1. Effects of Methane:
 Methane is not toxic; however, it is highly flammable and may form explosive mixtures
with air.
 High concentrations of the gas in closed spaces, may reduce the oxygen percentage in
air and cause suffocation.
 Asphyxia may result if the oxygen concentration is reduced to below 19.5% by
displacement.

2. Effects of Carbon monoxide:

 Carbon monoxide is very dangerous to humans because it is so readily absorbed by the
blood. Hemoglobin has an affinity for carbon monoxide that is about three hundred
times greater than that for oxygen.
 Its effects on the human bodies are slight giddiness, headache, and breathlessness.
 Its presence causes suffocation and even death its concentration gets higher.

3. Effect of Carbon Dioxide:

 Carbon dioxide is toxic in higher concentrations. It can lead to suffocation when the
concentration is too high.
 When inhaled at concentrations much higher than usual atmospheric levels, it can
produce a sour taste in the mouth and a stinging sensation in the nose and throat.
 Concentrations of 7% to 10% cause dizziness, headache, visual and hearing dysfunction,
and unconsciousness within a few minutes to an hour.

4. Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S):

 H2S is classed as a chemical asphyxiant, similar to carbon monoxide and cyanide gases.
 It inhibits cellular respiration and uptake of oxygen, causing biochemical suffocation.
 Prolonged exposures at lower levels can lead to bronchitis, pneumonia, migraine headaches,
pulmonary edema, and loss of motor coordination.

5. Sulphur Dioxide (SO2):

 Sulfur dioxide is toxic in large amounts and can be life threatening.
 Exposure to 100 ppm is considered immediately dangerous to human life and health.
 Burning of the nose and throat, breathing difficulties, and severe airway obstructions occurs in
miners who breathe Sulfur Dioxide released as a result of exposure.
 Sulfur dioxide blocks nerve signals from the pulmonary stretch receptors (PSR's). Inhaling sulfur
dioxide has been associated with increased respiratory symptoms and disease and premature
death.

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6. Effects of Hydrogen:
 Hydrogen poses a number of hazards to human safety, from potential detonations and fires
when mixed with air to being an asphyxiant in its pure, oxygen-free form.
 Liquid hydrogen is a cryogen and presents dangers (such as frostbite) associated with very cold
liquids.
 Hydrogen dissolves in many metals, and, in addition to leaking out, may have adverse effects on
them, such as hydrogen embrittlement, leading to cracks and explosions.
 Hydrogen gas leaking into external air may spontaneously ignite.
 hydrogen fire, while being extremely hot, is almost invisible, and thus can lead to accidental
burns.

7. Effects of Radon:
 Radon emanates from the rock matrix or from ground water that has passed over radioactive
minerals. It has a half life of 3.825 days and emits alpha radiation. The immediate products of
the radioactive decay of radon are minute solid particles known as the radon daughters. These
adhere to the surfaces of dust particles and emit alpha, beta and some gamma radiation.

Gas Detection Methods.

1. Catalytic Bead Sensor:
Primarily used as low-cost combustible gas detection sensor. They consist of a very small
sensing element sometimes called a ‘bead’. They are made of an electrically heated platinum
wire coil, covered first with a ceramic base such as alumina and then with a final outer coating
of palladium or rhodium catalyst dispersed in a substrate of thoria. This type of sensor operates
on the principle that when a combustible gas/air mixture passes over the hot catalyst surface,
combustion occurs, and the heat evolved increases the temperature of the ‘bead’. This in turn
alters the resistance of the platinum coil and can be measured by using the coil as a
temperature thermometer in a standard electrical bridge circuit. The resistance change is then
directly related to the gas concentration in the surrounding atmosphere and can be displayed
on a meter or some similar indicating device.

2. Thermal Conductivity:
This technique for detecting gas is suitable for the measurement of high (%V/V) concentrations
of binary gas mixes. It is mainly used for detecting gases with a thermal conductivity much
greater than air e.g. Methane and Hydrogen. Gases with thermal conductivities close to air
cannot be detected E.g. Ammonia and Carbon Monoxide. Gases with thermal conductivities less
than air are more difficult to detect as water vapor can cause interference E.g. Carbon Dioxide
and Butane. Mixtures of two gases in the absence of air can also be measured using this
technique. The heated sensing element is exposed to the sample and the reference element is
enclosed in a sealed compartment. If the thermal conductivity of the sample gas is higher than
that of the reference, then the temperature of the sensing element decreases. If the thermal
conductivity of the sample gas is less than that of the reference, then the temperature of the

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sample element increases. These temperature changes are proportional to the concentration of
gas present at the sample element.

3. Infrared Gas Detector:

Many combustible gases have absorption bands in the infrared region of the electromagnetic
spectrum of light. These sensors have a number of important advantages over the catalytic
type. They include a very fast speed of response (typically less than 10 seconds), low
maintenance and greatly simplified checking, using the self-checking facility of modern micro-
processor-controlled equipment. They can also be designed to be unaffected by any known
‘poisons’, they are failsafe, and they will operate successfully in inert atmospheres, and under a
wide range of ambient temperature, pressure and humidity conditions. The technique operates
on the principle of dual wavelength IR absorption, whereby light passes through the sample
mixture at two wavelengths, one of which is set at the absorption peak of the gas to be
detected, whilst the other is not. The two light sources are pulsed alternatively and guided along
a common optical path to emerge via a flameproof ‘window’ and then through the sample gas.
The beams are subsequently reflected back again by a retroreflector, returning once more
through the sample and into the unit. Here a detector compares the signal strengths of sample
and reference beams and, by subtraction, can give a measure of the gas concentration. This
type of detector can only detect diatomic gas molecules and is therefore unsuitable for the
detection of Hydrogen.

4. Open Path Flammable Infrared Gas Detector:

These detectors use infrared and laser technology in the form of a broad beam (or open path)
which can cover a distance of several hundred meters. They use dual wavelength beams, the
first coinciding with the absorption band peak of the target gas and a second reference beam
which lies nearby in an unabsorbed area. The instrument continually compares the two signals
that are transmitted through the atmosphere, using either the back-scattered radiation from a
retro reflector or more commonly in newer designs by means of a separate transmitter and
receiver. Any changes in the ratio of the two signals are measured as gas.

5. Electrochemical gas detectors

These detectors work by allowing gases to diffuse through a porous membrane to an electrode
where it is either chemically oxidized or reduced. The amount of current produced is
determined by how much of the gas is oxidized at the electrode indicating the concentration of
the gas. Manufactures can customize electrochemical gas detectors by changing the porous
barrier to allow for the detection of a certain gas concentration range. Also, since the diffusion
barrier is a physical/mechanical barrier, the detector tended to be more stable and reliable over
the sensor's duration and thus required less maintenance than other early detector
technologies.

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6. Semiconductor:
Semiconductor sensors, also known as metal-oxide-semiconductor sensors (MOS sensors)
detect gases by a chemical reaction that takes place when the gas comes in direct contact with
the sensor. Tin dioxide is the most common material used in semiconductor sensors and the
electrical resistance in the sensor is decreased when it comes in contact with the monitored gas.
The resistance of the tin dioxide is typically around 50 kΩ in air but can drop to around 3.5 kΩ in
the presence of 1% methane. This change in resistance is used to calculate the gas
concentration. Semiconductor sensors are commonly used to detect hydrogen, oxygen, alcohol
vapor, and harmful gases such as carbon monoxide. One of the most common uses for
semiconductor sensors is in carbon monoxide sensors. They are also used in breathalyzers.
Because the sensor must come in contact with the gas to detect it, semiconductor sensors work
over a smaller distance than infrared point or ultrasonic detectors. MOS sensors can detect
different gases, such as carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and ammonia. Since
the 1990s, MOS sensors have become important environmental gas detectors.

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