Stench Gas Units

In the event of an underground emergency, it is of the utmost importance to enable all personnel to get to a safe location in the quickest possible time.

Most mines today are equipped with 2-way radio networks that extend underground via Leaky Feeder systems. This 2-way radio system enables the mine to instantly send out an Emergency call to the underground, but some personnel may not hear the radio messages due to machine noise, or be in locations where there is no 2-way radio coverage.
To ensure that personnel that have not receive the audible Emergency message, a second alerting system is activated, namely Stench Gas.

Stench Gas is designed to be released into the air intake of the mine, and will disperse everywhere the air flows. Even at extremely low concentrations, the strong pungent odour is distinctive, leaving no doubt of the gas’s presence and the need to evacuate.

For small mines, a single Stench gas activation unit located at the portal is typically sufficient, but as the mine grows larger, and especially when the underground has multiple declines it may no longer be suitable. In some mines it has been recorded that the stench gas has taken more than 30 minutes to reach some areas when released from the portal alone.

For the larger and more complicated mines, multiple stench release points will be required to attain an adequate level of coverage in a suitable time period.

Manual stench activation units can be used, but require personnel to travel to each unit to activate them. Not only does this delay the stench gas been released, but can place personnel in harm’s way while trying to get to these activation units.

The Remote activated stench gas release units solve the above problems, allowing stench gas to be released from all installed units, almost instantly, and at the same time. When coupled with a SCADA system, the status of each unit can be monitored, ensuring all units are operational.