The South African Institute ofMining and Metallurgy RISE OF THE

MACHINES - THE 'STATE OF THE ART' IN MINING MECHANISATION,

AUTOMATION, HYDRAULIC TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATIONS
VA.Kononov and B.R.Richter

VERY LOW FREQUENCY TECHNOLOGY

AND ITS INTEGRATION INTO THE CONTEMPORARY RFID
AND OTHER MINING SYSTEMS

Valery A.Kononov
VAK Technical Solutions (South Africa)
Bernhard R.Richter
Selectronic Funk-und Sicherheitstechnik GmbH (Germany)

1. History of Very Low Frequency communication

The very first use of Electromagnetic (EM) waves underground is dated back to 1910
when in Germany EM radiation was tried for geological investigation. A decade later
low frequency EM waves were tested to satisfy mining industry in communication
needs.

Early knowledge of the number of trapped miners and their location dramatically
increases their chances of being rescued. Such information could be obtained if there
was some kind of communication between the trapped miner and the rescue team, or if
location equipment was available.

The potential to communication with miners trapped underground was realised in the
1920's, when simple investigations of underground reception of Long Wave
commercial stations were made. At the level of radio technology then, it was not
possible to build a practical system. Further development using electromagnetic (EM)
waves in underground mines turned back into geophysical exploration. Until the end of
1930's very little effort was aimed at the development of Very Low Frequency in-mine
communication.

EM waves were first useu for communication in the Soulh African gold mines in 1938.
An R&D programme devoted to in-mine EM communication was launched and
continued for another 50 years Austin (2002). Tribute must be paid to T.L.Wadley, who
conducted the first fundamental research on EM wave propagation through rock, at the
request of the Chamber of Mines of South Africa Wadley (1949). It was Wadley who
first proposed the use of VLF for practical communication underground. After that the
main research in underground EM wave propagation was mainly conducted in South
Africa, by COMRO (Chamber of Mines Research Organization) and the United States
of America. The role of COMRO in such research must be emphasised as from 1950s
until the middle of 1980's COMRO was a leading R&D organization in mine EM

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The South African Institute ofMining and Metallurgy RISE OF THE
MACHINES - THE 'STATE OF THE ART' IN MINING MECHANISATION,
AUTOMATION, HYDRAULIC TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATIONS
V.A.Kononov and B. R. Richter
communication that resulted in the design and commercial production of MW
communication system for rescue teams. After some modernization, this system is still
manufactured commercially. -

It should be noted that the most important research and results were obtained during the
1970's and 1980's. Since then the interest in EM wave propagation through rock and
underground tunnels has declined.

This can be explained by two main trends: drastic improvement of general safety
records, and introduction of contemporary technology such as leaky feeder and
computer technology, which are being regarded as a panacea for any communication
problems. As a result, VLF communication was very often not considered by the
mining industry. Nevertheless, basic research enabled workers in the field to develop
different methods and techniques to locate trapped miners and for providing
underground communications, but for very limited conditions such as rescue operations
only.

However, besides the ability to propagate through rock VLF EM waves posse some
other remarkable features that make them very useful for such applications as collision
warning and RFID reading.

2. Collision warning and RFID

Due to the fact that the mining industry requires a long reading range, active tags are
commonly used for personnel and transport tracking. The main requirements for
collision warning (personnel detection) and personnel and transport tracking are very
similar:

Stable and predictable propagation of EM waves under different geological and

technological underground conditions;
Reliable reading of personnel or transport tags independent of the tag's spatial
orientation and mutual position of a reader and the tag;
The presence of mining machinery or equipment should not affect the size or
shape of the warning zone or the ability to read tags reliably.

For many years, NIOSH and MSHA in USA have conducted extensive research into
collision prevention. That resulted in the profound understanding of the problem and
development of very detailed collision warning system requirements. As an example,
MSHA "Proximity Protection System Specification" dated 04 October 2004 requires
creation of an accurate protection zone around a CM. Below are some of the main
specifications:

I) Zone should be adjustable from 0,6 m to 8 m with an accuracy of 0,3 m;

I') System parameters should not be affected by the presence of large metallic
objects;
o System accuracy should not be affected by rotation of the personal tag about its
X, Y and Z axes etc.

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The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy RISE OF THE
MACHINES - THE 'STATE OF THE ART' IN MINING MECHANISATION,
AUTOMATION, HYDRAULIC TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATIONS
VA.Kononov and B.R.Richter

Contemporary active tags usefully employ a VHFIUHF transmitter for one-way

communication between a tag and a reader. A few systems that use two-way
communication tags, which still operate in VHFIUHF and GHz's bands are available on
the market.

Is it feasible to obtain the required accuracy in VHFIUHF bands? How do EM waves

of these spectrums propagate in underground conditions?

3. Propagation of VHF and UHF signals in underground workings

A huge number of publications devoted to underground propagation of EM waves in

this part of EM spectrum were made for the past 50 years. Worldwide research results
had covered all possible aspects of the problem. Analysis of these data provides more
than enough information on the propagation conditions. Here are some results.

Variations of the signal strength up to 20 dB could be observed over the cross-section

of the tunnel/road even without any moving machinery or personnel. Mutual spatial
orientation and antenna's polarization of TX and RX could add another 10 -15 dB to
this instability Kononov (1987; 18-19). These could be attributed to multipath
scattering resulting in a situation where direct and scattered waves interference
reinforce or cancel each other. The size and location of these "dead" zones are
impossible to predict or calculate Kersky (1985). Moving machinery and even personnel
could make these 'effects worse.

Increasing transmitting power and use of directional antennas for speech or data
transmission could mitigate these effects. Nevertheless, this approach could not be used
for creating a stable and predictable warning or reading zones underground.

Another aspect that negatively affects stability of VHF and UHF propagation is
abnormally long distance propagation via inadvertent wave-guides formed by random
conductors. The signal could propagate up to hundreds of meters in a system tuned to
operate at 10 - 15 m only Weber (1967).

It should be noted that electric field component propagates due to the capacitive
coupling into conductors and magnetic field components due to the mutually inductive
coupling between the radiation source and a random conductor. The voltage transfer is
proportional to frequency and rises at abuut 6 dB per octave.

4. Implementation of personnel detection and RFID tracking in mines

It is interesting to note that at MineExpo 2004 in Las Vegas, not a single collision
warning system was presented, Subsequent visit to MSHA by one of the authors has
confirmed that MSHA and NIOSH came to the conclusion that there are no reliable
personnel detection (proximity) systems available on the international market.

One-way VHFIUHF communication tags for personnel detection and tracking have
been on the market for more than 15 years. Unfortunately, after extensive testing of

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The South African Institute ofMining and Metallurgy RISE OF THE
MACHINES - THE 'STATE OF THE ART' IN MINING MECHANISATION,
AUTOMATION, HYDRAULIC TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATIONS
VA.Kononov and B.R.Richter

different systems based on such a tag in Canada, USA, Germany, Australia, South
Africa and other countries this approach has been dropped worldwide. Poor efficiency
of systems based on such kind of tag is mostly attributed to the way in which
VHF!UHF EM waves propagate.

One-way communication VHF tag suffers also from a conceptual drawback. As the tag
always transmits an ID code at a random interval or periodically, it leads to the situation
when hundreds of tags pollute the underground EM environment. In some cases it even
affects the leaky feeder communication systems.

In South Mrica, Anglo American personnel detection system (PDS) review noted
unstable warning zone and unnecessary alarms Safety, Health & Environment Bulletin
(2002).

Very recently it was proposed to German mines to use an old optical barcode on
transport units to provide reliable tracking.

5. VLF technology

In this paper, EM signals between 4,0 kHz and 100 kHz are considered to be VLF and
useable for underground communication. The aim of this paper is not to present a
VLF's theory, but a description of the practical implementation and advantages of the
technology. Thete are some fundamental postulates:

Ill-- VLF signal could be radiated via a loop antenna of surface from 0.1 m 2 up to
any practical limit;
Ill-- Depending on the antenna's orientation a circular or elliptical (1,2-1,3 x/y
ratio) a transmitting zone could be obtained;
Ill-- Stable and predictable communication distance up to 15-17 m could be
obtained within IS limits with a transmitting antenna of about 1,0 m2 ;
Ill-- Communication distance is not affected by geological or technological
underground conditions;
Ill-- VHF signal propagates through the rocks.
Ill-- VLF signal could be received via a loop antenna;
~ Communication distance depends only on the transmitted magnetic moment N
and the receiver's sensitivity.

Due to the VLF, the level of capacitive coupling of the signal into random conductors is
about 60 dB less than in the VHF band that prevents abnormal long distance
propagation of the VLF signal. Magnetic coupling into random conductive loops is
also not significant as it is highly improbable that those loops will be accidentally tuned
on the transmitting signal with wavelength A of about 30 km.

Therefore, it is pretty obvious that the most important advantage of the VLF technology
over the VHF/UHF is the formation of a very stable and predictable EM field.

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The South African Institute ofMining and Metallurgy RISE OF THE
MACHINES - THE 'STATE OF THE ART' IN MINING MECHANISATION,
AUTOMATION, HYDRAULIC TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATIONS
VA.Kononov and B.R.Richter

6. VLF tag and its different applications

The most known commercial application of the VLF EM waves is the trapped miner
detection and location system PKB is being manufactured by Selectronic GmbH for
Deutsche Steinkohle AG since 1990. Today each and every German miner is equipped
with a two-way communication VLF/MWF tag that also protects him against going into
a dangerous zone.

The South African concept of the Integrated Miners' Safety Device (IMSD) is based on
the two-way communication VLF tag as well Kononov (1998:58). This concept has
been further developed to accommodate collision warning system and RFID
requirements SA Patent Application (2005).

Based on this concept a collision warning system CWS500 has been developed. The
system employs a universal miner's tag that consists of a VLF receiver and a VHF/UHF
transmitter. This tag provides the following functions:

III Warning a miner and/or a vehicle driver of an impending collision;

l:I Provides personnel and/or transport tracking and shaft clearance;
liD Protects miners against entering a dangerous zone (for example last roof bolts
row).

The warning or reading zone of the tag could be continuously adjusted from 0,5 m to
8,0 m. This zone is stable and does not depend on geological or technological
conditions such as presence of stationary or moving machinery, electrical cables, rails
etc. The tag radiates an EM signal only when it is requested by a reader or when a
miner with a tag enters a dangerous zone. A reader also provides information on the
direction in which personnel moves.

The CWS500 has two modifications: for surface and underground mines. For surface
use a battery with a two-year life powers the tag. An intrinsically safe underground tag
is powered from a cap-lamp battery.

The new universal tags are supplied to German mining industry to phase out the
previous PKB tags. The CWS500 is being deployed at two mines in South Africa.

Conclusions

Two-way communication VLF tag is able to satisfy the mining industry's needs in
trustworthy personnel and transport tracking as well as collision warning.

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The South African Institute ofMining and Metallurgy RISE OF THE
MACHINES - THE 'STATE OF THE ART' IN MINING MECHANISATION,
AUTOMATION, HYDRAULIC TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATIONS
VA.Kononov and B. R. Richter

References

Austin B. 2002. Radio Underground: South African experience of radio

communications in mines. Radio Bygones. No.78, August/September.
Kononov, V.A. 1987. Infrared Communication Channels in Underground Mining
conditions. Doctorate Thesis, Moscow Technical University (MVTU Bauman), 187 p.

Kononov, V.A. 1998. Investigation into and repmi on early warning and
communication systems for irrespirable atmospheres in underground conditions.
SIMEAC Final Project Report Gl!.N4J3. Pretoria: Department of Mineral and Energy,
72p.
Kersky, E.K. 1985. Remote Control for Loading and LHD machines. Mining Journal,
No 5, p.57-58.
Safety, Health & Environment Bulletin, S112/2002. Anglo American PDS Review.
SA Patent Application 2005/01112, Collision Warning System. Authors:
V.A.Kononov & B.R.Richter.
Wadley, T.L. 1949. Radio Communication Through Rock on the Witwatersrand
Mines. CSIR Report ETR-4, August.
Weber, K. 1967. Portable Radio Remote control for coal winning machines. Gliickauf,
No 8, p.26-27.

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