Blasting Competency Programme

Module 7: Environmental and Health Considerations

1

Contents

Vibrations ............................................................................................................................... 2
Ground Vibrations ................................................................................................................. 2
Basic principles .................................................................................................................... 2
Measurement ....................................................................................................................... 4
Mounting of sensors ............................................................................................................. 5
Predicting Ground Vibrations ............................................................................................... 6
Damage................................................................................................................................ 6
Human Response ................................................................................................................ 7
Designing Blasts for Minimum Ground Vibrations................................................................ 7
Airblast ................................................................................................................................... 8
Basic principles .................................................................................................................... 8
Blasting Fumes ...................................................................................................................... 8
Gases Produced by Blasting ................................................................................................ 9
Oxygen Positive/Oxygen Negative....................................................................................... 9

© African Explosives Limited, 2009

Blasting Competency Programme
Module 7: Environmental and Health Considerations
2

Environmental and Health Considerations

The environmental effects of blasting underground covered here are :-
• Blasting vibrations
• Airblast
• Blasting fumes

Vibrations
Vibration makes its impact either through the ground or the air, and its negative effects are
registered in terms of:
• Damage to rock structure
• Damage to civil structures
• Disturbance of civilians

Vibration through the air is felt as either audible noise or inaudible concussion, and is measured as
overpressure exerted on the surroundings.
Vibration through the ground is normally measured as particle velocity and expressed as mm/s.

Whether in the ground or the air, the extent of vibration effects is related to:
• the nature of the body being impacted
• its fixation
• the amplitude of vibration
• the frequency of the waves

Great caution is needed when attempting to define the safe limits of blasting for sensitive
situations. This is because of a number of factors:
• The great variation in vibration levels from blasts of nominally the same design,
• The almost intractable problem of tying down geology and weather patterns,
• The great care needed in ensuring that the most damaging frequencies are
accurately detected, and
• The difficulty in pinpointing the most appropriate criteria for vibration control.

Ground Vibrations

Basic principles
Part of the energy released in a blast is transmitted through the surrounding rock mass in the
form of a transient pressure pulse (wave train) having duration up to several times the actual
blast duration. When the wave passes a point in the ground, a particle at that point is subject
to motion. While the motion might appear to be random in character, individual elements of it
resemble harmonic motion being defined in terms of:
• frequency (f),
• amplitude of particle displacement (δ),
• velocity (v) or
• acceleration (a).

© African Explosives Limited, 2009

Blasting Competency Programme
Module 7: Environmental and Health Considerations
3

Individual Elements of Wave Motion

Most one or two story structures amplify vibrations which lie in the range 5-25 Hz. The
response of residences and structures to ground vibration is complex and depends on many
factors:
• magnitude and duration of the motion of the ground,
• the interaction between the ground and the structure, and
• the characteristics of the structure.

! "
#$

Ground motion depends upon : -

• the maximum mass of explosive detonated within a particular time interval (E),
• blasthole pattern/initiation timing and sequence,
• the distance between the blast and the monitoring location (D),
• the direction of direct energy propagation,
• the geology of the rock mass.

© African Explosives Limited, 2009

Blasting Competency Programme
Module 7: Environmental and Health Considerations
4

Ground Motion Variables

Under Supervisor Control Outside Supervisor Control
• Charge mass/delay • General topography
• Length of delay • Rock type and water saturation
• Direction of initiation level
• Initiation system

Measurement
The detectors used to measure ground vibrations are either geophones (velocity
transducers) or accelerometers. The vibrations produced by open pit or underground mines
generally occur over the frequency range of 2 Hz to 150 Hz, and thus the detectors should
be capable of accurately detecting vibrations across this range.

Geophones
Most vibration monitoring
equipment uses geophone
sensors.

They require regular recalibration

over a period of time and if
shaken violently. They are
sensitive to orientation; a vertical
sensor cannot be used as a
horizontal sensor and vice-versa.

Geophones work on the moving

coil principle. These work by transferring the vibration to an electrical coil in the midst of
which a magnet is suspended on a spring. Movement of the coil generates a voltage across
the terminals, directly proportional to the velocity of movement.

Geophone limitations:
• Resonant frequency,
• The low frequency response
of the geophones may not
adequately cover the
response of the structure
being vibrated, especially if it
is large and heavy.
• Vertical OR Horizontal
orientation, not both.
• Geophones can quite quickly
lose their calibration,
especially if they receive
violent agitation.
• Being inertia devices, they can “bottom out" during high amplitude readings.

© African Explosives Limited, 2009

Blasting Competency Programme
Module 7: Environmental and Health Considerations
5

Accelerometers
These are:
• expensive,
• insensitive,
• require signal amplification,
• have a good frequency response,
• maintain their calibration over a long period of time,
• do not bottom-out under large vibration levels, and are
• not sensitive to orientation

The key item in an accelerometer is a piezoelectric crystal, of quartz, tourmaline or ceramic,

which develops a voltage when subjected to force. The crystal is sandwiched between
weights, and the force of these on the crystal as motion takes place creates a proportional
voltage in the wires
Since force and acceleration are directly
proportional, the voltage output is
proportional to acceleration, hence the
term "accelerometer" (the direct output
of geophones, of course, is velocity).

Accelerometers are the preferred choice

for accurate results under all conditions.

Mounting of sensors
Once the detectors have been chosen they should be firmly bonded or bolted to the vibrating
surface of interest in a tri-axial array. It is very important to attach the array correctly to the
vibrating material.

& '# (

%#

%# )*#
#
The mount geometry is important and should be either a cube of side length in the range
0.15 to 0.22 m, or a squat cylinder having length equal to diameter.

© African Explosives Limited, 2009

Blasting Competency Programme
Module 7: Environmental and Health Considerations
6

Predicting Ground Vibrations

Empirical charge weight scaling laws are routinely used in blasting operation for the
prediction of ground vibrations. The common approach to scaling is to plot peak particle
velocity (PPV) against square root scaled distance (D/√E) , as follows:
b
D
PPV = a
E
where PPV = maximum vector sum of peak particle velocity (mm/s)
D = distance between the blast and the monitoring station (m)
E = maximum charge mass per delay (kg)

Values of PPV, E and D are measured in the field

from which values of a and b are determined using
a linear least squares regression analysis of log
PPV versus log (D/√E).

The graph presents the results of United States

Bureau of Mines (USBM) quarry blasting studies,
allows rough estimates of the peak particle velocity
to be estimated. AEL has adopted the upper 95%
confidence line of this USBM analysis to provide a
conservative estimate.

Ground vibration levels are highly dependent upon

ground geological and ground water conditions so
ground vibration levels greater than estimated may
result. For typical construction blasting at distances
less than 50 m, vibration can be a factor of 3 times
higher than that created by quarry blasting for the
same scaled distance.

Damage
There are no statutory limits laid done in South African law. Instead the onus is placed on the
mine or quarry manager to ensure that his blasting operations do not cause damage to
private property by making use of “experts in the field”.

Blasting Situation Recommended Maximum

Level (mm/s)
Heavily reinforced concrete structures 120
Property owned by the concern performing blasting 84
operations where minor plaster cracks are acceptable.
Private property in reasonable repair where public concern 50
not an important consideration.
Private property if public concern is to be taken into account 10
or if blasting is conducted on a regular and frequent basis

© African Explosives Limited, 2009

Blasting Competency Programme
Module 7: Environmental and Health Considerations
7

Human Response
People feel distressed by vibrations that are considerably lower than those required to cause
damage to buildings. At a peak particle velocity of 10 mm/s, for example, the probability of
damage to a building is extremely low, but the vibrations will be troublesome to some people.
The psychological impact is greatly increased when the vibration is accompanied by
considerable noise.

Designing Blasts for Minimum Ground Vibrations

If stability of a slope is at a critical level, ground vibrations can contribute to slope failure.

Overburdened holes cause increased vibration levels.

When choosing the firing order and delay timing, grounds vibrations can be controlled by
observing the following rules:
• Minimise the mass of explosives on each delay.
• Select delay intervals such that any blasthole in the second or a subsequent row
can break out easily.
• Initiate blasts from a free end rather than in the middle. This lengthens the blast
duration and reduces the explosive energy dissipated in any given time interval.
• Use in hole detonators for the initiation of blastholes so that longer delays can be
used. This will reduce the reinforcing effects of individual pressure pulses in the
rock and increase the total duration of the blast therefore contributing to lower
ground vibration levels.

© African Explosives Limited, 2009

Blasting Competency Programme
Module 7: Environmental and Health Considerations
8

Airblast

Basic principles
Audible noise lies in the range of 20 to 20 000 Hz. Airblast includes audible noise plus
frequencies below 20 Hz which cannot be heard by the human ear but can sometimes be felt
by the body. Both noise and airblast decay with increasing distance. However because low
frequencies attenuate less rapidly, it is possible to have significant airblast with minimal noise
at appreciable distances from the blast.

" ! ( # #+#
, # # -, . )"

/ -# ! # -, . 0)"

( ! - %( #+#* ! #
1-, . )"

( ! - %( 2 - 3#
#
-, . )"
#3 2 #+#

Blasting Fumes
Underground air is subject to contamination by:
• dust,
• smoke, and
• fumes,
o internal combustion engines,
o rock handling operations,
o blasting.

Mining regulations are aimed at ensuring an adequate, effective supply of clean air to dilute
these health hazards to safe levels. In most blasting operations the statutory time lag
between blasting and re-entry is more than adequate for blasting fumes and suspended dust
to be dispersed or carried away from the working place.
Rapid re-entry operations such as high speed development, grizzly blasting and coal mining
are different; mining personnel re-entering the working place after a blast are nearly always
subjected to some degree of air pollution and toxic gases.

© African Explosives Limited, 2009

Blasting Competency Programme
Module 7: Environmental and Health Considerations
9

Gases Produced by Blasting

4 # 5 6*
*
7 8 ( !2 '
'- 8 ( !2 ' 9 '
: +! 8; ( !2 '
$ '- .8 &'
7 '- < . &' 9
2 & &' 9

Toxic Fumes
Toxic, non-irritant - CO and nitric oxide (NO). They give
no warning of their presence, they are doubly dangerous.
Toxic, irritant -Nitrogen dioxide (N02), dinitrogen tetroxide
(N204) and dinitrogen trioxide (N203). By reason of their
solubility, forming acid in moist human tissue, these gases
are highly irritant. In low concentration they cause
headache and coughing, while higher concentration leads
to water-logging of the lungs. They are easily distinguished
in high concentration by their characteristic red/brown
colour.

Gas TLV (ppm) STEL(ppm)

CO2 5000 15 000
CO 50 400
NO2 3 5
NO 25 35
NH3 25 35
SO2 2 5
HCl 5 (5 ppm not to be
exceeded)

Oxygen Positive/Oxygen Negative

Oxygen Positive - The oxidiser (AN) supplies the oxygen, too much Oxygen will result in
NOx forming instead of N2

Oxygen Negative - results from an incomplete reaction with fuels, Carbon Monoxide forms
instead of Carbon Dioxide.

Expect blasting to produce harmful fumes!

© African Explosives Limited, 2009