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 Post subject: Hydrogen Sulfide Gas...
PostPosted: Thu Sep 21, 2006 1:29 am 
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Joined: Thu Sep 21, 2006 1:05 am
Posts: 20
Is preety nasty stuff I am told and can kill you in a matter of minutes?
and I hear its prvelent in Iron ore mines


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PostPosted: Thu Sep 21, 2006 10:11 am 
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Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2005 2:34 pm
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Location: Within 60 Miles of the Northern Anthracite Field
and i can actually say we've never came across it in a coal mine! blackdamp Na Co2 is found quite regularly but not hydrogen sulfide. both the iron and coal research teams have modern, calibrated msha approved gas detectors which detect 4 gases, O2, CH4, CO, and H2S. I have been told we have to watch out for Methane in coal mines since day one but again ive never seen a rise in LEL level on any of our meters to any dangerous degree. we hit blackdamp so much in some mines in fact, that we can predict where we will hit it on a given day with a given temprature before we even get there!

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Sep 21, 2006 11:04 am 
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Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2005 11:28 pm
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Location: Winnemucca, NV
Frank, it is detectable by smell only when it is in small amounts. Larger and toxic amounts of sulphide can be totally undetectable by a human nose -- not that it matters because we can detect even the smallest amounts with the passport. However, there really is very little reason geologically to find dangerous levels of hydrogen sulphide in iron mines in the Highlands. We have tested for all the major dangerous gases and found none.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Sep 21, 2006 12:27 pm 
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Location: Within 60 Miles of the Northern Anthracite Field
well i have smelled some rotten things in mines but only after we disturbed standing water or a rotten prop. still no notification on the meter of H4S. maybe this is the "unknown gas" eh greg?

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Sep 21, 2006 1:07 pm 
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Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2005 11:33 pm
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Location: Above the Sterling Hill Mine
Yes, H2S is suppose to be detectable by your nose at low or high levels, but the nose can't tell if it is a dangerous level or not. But in any event, we have never detected any levels of H2S in any mine. Methane, we have detected in only VERY low levels. I think the highest we ever detected is about 2 or 3% of the LEL of Methane. This would be 2 - 3% of the lower explosive limit of Methane. Methane would need to be 100% of the Lower Explosive Limit before it would be explosive.

For low levels of O2, like Chris said, it is generally very predicable by the mine. Certain mines will have consistent problems based on the temperature outside, and where you are in the mine. This is only predicable in the sense that we know which mines have issues with lower oxygen levels and where the problems are in the various mines. Some anthracite mines you can't go in safely in the winter, other anthracite mines will have issues in the summer. Some mines have perfect oxygen levels anytime of the year. Needless to say, you should always be sure to carry the air monitoring equipment with you in the event you hit a mine with air troubles. A mine which is fine in the winter may have bad oxygen in the summer.

Greg


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Sep 21, 2006 1:23 pm 
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I meant to say INCREASING amounts are undetectable by the human nose. In other words, do not rely on your nose as a gas meter especially if you suspect hydrogen sulphide is in the mine. I should point out that Miner Greg is referring to coal mines with methane. This gas you will also never encounter in our iron mines. It is released by extracting coal and is especially present in an active coal mine. It is very rare to encounter methane in abandoned coal mines but still possible.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Sep 28, 2006 6:20 pm 
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Joined: Fri Jul 08, 2005 12:41 pm
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Location: Hard coal region, PA
is Hydrogen Sulfide a bybroduct of burning coal? For example at the mine fires, when you smell sulfer is it actually hydrogen sulfide?

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Sep 30, 2006 8:40 pm 
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Location: Within 60 Miles of the Northern Anthracite Field
hey greg what sensor puked in the passport when we took it in the olyphant mine fire cause that thing went nuts, off the scale!?!

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2006 10:56 pm 
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Location: Above the Sterling Hill Mine
Well, the CO (Carbon Monoxide) sensor was reading pretty high in the mine fire. As the CO reading went up to I think it was 60 or 80 PPM, and the O2 reading went down. After I left the mine fire, the O2 returned to normal and then started dropping. After that the O2 sensor was dead. It would not calibrate up to normal levels. We learned from that trip not to bring the MSA Passport into mine fires anymore!

Miner Greg


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