Bimalendu B.

Bhattacharya, FNAE, FWAST, FAEG, FGSI

INAE Distinguished Professor S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences (Ministry of Science & Technology, Govt. of India) Block: JD; Sector: III; Salt Lake, Kolkata 700 098 (Formerly Director, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad) Ph.: (O): (033) 2335 5706-8, ext. 438; (R): (033) 2462 7083; FAX: (033) 2335 3477 M: 94321 47721 & 98317 34316 E-mail: bimalendu@bose.res.in & bimal_ism@yahoo.com

FOREWORD
Coal is a major source of energy generation in India. More than half of the power generated in a power hungry country like India is through coal extracted mainly by blasting. However, blasting is responsible for several environmental hazards: ground vibration, noise, dust, fumes, air overpressure and fly rock generation, to name a few. A suitable understanding of why such things happen and how to get rid of them is necessary to minimize, if not stop, environmental degradation due to blasting. I am happy that the students of Delhi Public School, Dhanbad has undertaken a study on Assessment Environmental Impacts of Blasting with Special Reference to Dhanbad Coal Belt broadly under the technical guidance of a leading expert in the subject Dr. Pijush Pal Roy, CSIR-Central Institute of Mining & Fuel Research, Dhanbad. The report has been divided in four chapters. Chapter one explains coal mining in Dhanbad coal belt. In the second chapter, blasting methods, parameters and instruments are discussed. Chapter three discusses the very important topic of environmental impacts of blasting. Chapter four, the final chapter, deals with the equally important issue of mitigation measures for the environmental hazards. The study has very correctly reported that a good blast is one that uses the maximum share of energy in rock breakage and creates less noise, air over pressure, ground vibration and fly rock. However, the blasting results are influenced by several i

parameters and some of these are: properties of the explosives used, their distribution pattern, blasting geometry, initiation sequence in the blast, the overall, rock mechanics and structure. Dhanbad coal belt regions are thickly populated in and around the coal belt. The causeeffect relationship of blasting leading to rock breakage, noise, air over pressure, ground vibration, fly rock etc. creates a negative psychological effect on the society, media and the body politics, in general, and in the nearby population, in particular. It is in the overall interest of all of us in the country that the society is made aware of the technical efforts that are being made for mitigation of the hazards due to blasting. My heartiest congratulations to all concerned particularly the students of Delhi Public School, Dhanbad who carried out the technical study of societal importance. (Bimalendu B. Bhattacharya) Kolkata, Dated: December 6, 2012

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Preface
Mining is one of the oldest industrial activities of the human civilization. It refers to extraction of valuable materials from the earth. It provides employment to many and more importantly the mining of coal gives many countries, including India, a major part of their total energy usage. Coal is instrumental in providing India with a vast majority of its primary energy demand. Coal exists in

blocks and is fragmented for suitable extraction by

blasting. Due to this,

blasting is a very primary

part of coal mining. However, by its very nature, blasting yields several environmental hazards. These include: ground vibration, noise, dust, fumes, air overpressure and flyrock generation. A suitable understanding of why such things happen and how to get rid of them is thus necessary to minimize, if not stop, environmental degradation due to blasting. In this regard, the Delhi Public School, Dhanbad, a registered school under the aegis of the DPS Society, New Delhi funded an in-house project titled Assessment of Environmental Impacts of Blasting with special reference to the Dhanbad coal belt. Technical training for this project was provided by CSIR-Central Institute of Mining & Fuel Research, Dhanbad. Dr. Pijush Pal Roy, Outstanding Scientist and Head of the Blasting Division acted as project guide. This report summarizes the work done as part of this project. iii

Chapter 1 of this report explains the coal mining in the Dhanbad coal belt. In the next chapter, Blasting methods, parameters and instruments are discussed. In Chapter 3, the environmental impacts of blasting are talked about and the final chapter deals with the mitigation measures for the environmental hazards. The authors of this report are extremely grateful to Prof. B.P. Khandelwal, Chairman for DPS Dhanbad and Former Chairman, CBSE and also to Shri K.B. Bhargava, Principal, Delhi Public School, Dhanbad, for their permission and sponsorship for this project. Thanks are also due to Dr. Pal Roy for his skilful guidance and advice during the entire task. The authors express their heartfelt gratitude to Dr. C. Sawmliana, Scientist and Shri R.K. Singh, Technical Officer of the Blasting Division of CSIR-CIMFR for their support. A kind note of thanks to Prof. Bimalendu Bhusan Bhattacharya, INAE Distinguished Professor, SNBNCBS, Kolkata and also to Dr. Tribhuwan Nath Singh, President, Centre for Eco-friendly Mining Initiatives, for their guidance and encouragement. We also thank Dr. A.K. Singh and Shri K.K. Singh of CSIR-CIMFR and Shri Damodar Prasad and Shri S.N. Roy of BCCL for arranging field visits. The support of Smt. Vandana Dutta and Dr. Chanchal K. Choudhary is also acknowledged. Udayan Singh Saion Kumar Roy Dhanbad, December 11th 2012

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CONTENTS Foreword Preface Contents List of Figures List of Tables Chapter 1 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Chapter 2 2.1 2.2 2.3 Chapter 3 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Chapter 4 4.0 4.1 4.2 Coal Mining in Dhanbad ENERGY: THE PRIMARY NEED NEED FOR COAL OCCURRENCES OF COAL IN INDIA JHARIA COALFIELD: A CROWN ON THE ENERGY MAP OF INDIA CONCLUSIONS Blasting in Coal Mines INTRODUCTION EXPLOSIVES BLAST PATTERN AND DELAY SELECTION Environmental Impacts of Blasting EXPLOSIVE ENERGY UTILIZATION GROUND VIBRATION FLYROCK DUST GENERATION NOISE AIR OVERPRESSURE GASES AND FUMES Mitigation Measures IN SEARCH OF SOLUTIONS MAKING BLASTING MORE EFFICIENT COAL MINER: THE WAY AHEAD References (i) (iii) (v) (vi) (vii)

1 2 4 5 9

11 11 14

17 17 24 28 33 34 40

42 42 45 48

LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1: CATEGORIZATION OF ENERGY SOURCES FIGURE 2: PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE OF ENERGY CONSUMPTION FIGURE 3: JHARIA COALFIELD FIGURE 4: DEPTH-WISE AND CATEGORY-WISE RESOURCE OF INDIAN COAL FIGURE 5: EXCAVATOR IN A BCCL MINE FIGURE 6: BLASTING IN A COAL MINE IN JHARIA COALFIELD FIGURE 7: AMMONIUM NITRATE DRY MIXES FIGURE 8: BLASTING HAS BEEN DONE ROCKS EXCAVATED FROM A MINE. IN RIGHT A DRILLING MACHINE FIGURE 9: DETONATION SEQUENCE OF HOLES FIGURE 10: EXPLOSIVE INDUCED SHOCK WAVE TRANSMISSION SEQUENCE. (COURTESY: D. PREECE) FIGURE 11: MEASUREMENT OF GROUND VIBRATION BY CIMFR TEAM FIGURE 12: A CARICATURIST'S VIEW OF FLYROCK FIGURE 13: CAUSES OF FLYROCK FIGURE 14: RELATION BETWEEN FRAGMENT SIZE AND MAXIMUM THROW FIGURE 15: DUST GENERATED DURING BLASTING IN AN IRON ONE MINE FIGURE 16: DUST GENERATION DURING BLASTING IN A COAL MINE FIGURE 17: THIS VIEW SHOWS THE LUNG TISSUE IN ANTHRACOSIS AT 100X MAGNIFICATION. ANTHRACOSIS IS A PULMONARY DISEASE COMMONLY CALLED "BLACK LUNG DISEASE" AND IS ASSOCIATED WITH COAL MINERS. THE OBVIOUS FEATURES HERE ARE THE THICKENED ALVEOLAR WALLS AND THE ACCUMULATION OF BLACK SOOT RESIDUE EMBEDDED IN THE ALVEOLAR WALLS. FIGURE 18: NOISE REPRESENTATION NEAR A BLASTING SITE FIGURE 19: AIR VIBRATION PATTERN FOR A BLAST; SPACING: 3 METRES, DELAY: 9 MS, VELOCITY: 340 M/S FIGURE 20: NONEL DETONATION CORD FIGURE 21: CONTINUOUS SURFACE MINER

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LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1: MAJOR COALFIELDS OF INDIA TABLE 2: COKING AND NON COKING COAL RESOURCE IN JHARIA COALFIELD TABLE 3: DGMS PRESCRIBED PERMISSIBLE LIMITS FOR GROUND VIBRATIONS (TECHNICAL CIRCULAR NO. 7, 1997) TABLE 4: PEAK PARTICLE VELOCITY AS DAMAGE CRITERIA FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF ROCKS (AFTER INDIAN STANDARDS INSTITUTION, IS:6922, SEC 4.1.1.2, 1973) TABLE 5: LEVEL AND DEGREE OF DAMAGE TO CEMENT STRUCTURES WITH VIBRATION TABLE 6: PERCENTAGES OF RESPIRATORY SYMPTOMS IN TUNNEL WORKERS AND OUTDOOR CONSTRUCTION WORKERS (ULVESTAD ET AL, 2000) TABLE 7: DUST RETARDING PLANT SPECIES FOR GREEN BELT DEVELOPMENT TABLE 8: LIST OF EQUIPMENTS REQUIRED FOR OB REMOVAL TO ORE HANDLING

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