Improved Automatic Fire Protection Systems for Off-Highway Mine Vehicles

Fire on off-road mine equipment is a serious hazard to life and property. The Bureau of Mines, through a program of contract and in-house research, has developed and demonstrated reasonably priced, reliable automatic fire protection systems to deal with this problem. This paper describes the development and subsequent in-mine tests of typical systems for front-end loaders, dozers, drills, haulage trucks, and hydraulic excavators. A variety of fire sensors, extinguishing agents, and control systems are discussed in the context of mine equipment designs and operating environments.