Analysis of the Time of Crew Evacuation from the Hazardous Area of Mining Exploitation Using Numerical Simulation

Hard coal mines are vulnerable to a series of hazards that affect the safety and effectiveness of mining production. One of such hazards is the risk of underground fires. As the exogenous underground fires appear suddenly and have a highly dynamic course, it is very often necessary to quickly evacuate the crew from the danger area. The time needed to evacuate the crew from the danger area is most commonly determined by means of analytical methods, which provide a very general calculation. Therefore, it becomes necessary to also make use of other methods and tools for determining this time. Undoubtedly, such characteristics are offered by modern calculation methods based on the artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm and characterised by high accuracy. The paper presents a sample application of such a method for evacuating a 20-member crew from the heading under threat. In order to determine the evacuation time for those individuals, a calculation model was built for the total length of the escape routes equal to 900 m. The results revealed that the total evacuation time for workers moving with the speed corresponding to the movement speed in a heading filled with smoke (with considerably reduced visibility) will amount to approx. 21 minutes. The results obtained may constitute an essential source of information for service teams responsible for ensuring the operational safety in mine headings. At the same time, the model developed allows for broader application to the estimation of crew evacuation times from danger areas.