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| Alertek is developing the technology to predict mine roof failures--the cave-ins that make mining for coal and other minerals such an expensive proposition and all too often cost the lives of miners. |
Coal mining has always been a dangerous occupation, but while the ability to protect and rescue miners has improved, it is not foolproof, as news stories in recent years have illustrated. Dr. Zvi Meiskin learned about coal mine safety as he worked on ways to improve communications with miners stranded by cave-ins. Now he might have the answer to preventing tragedy while reducing the costs of pulling this valuable energy resource from deep in the earth.
The retired professor and founder/president of Alertek is developing the technology to predict mine roof failures--the cave-ins that make mining such an expensive proposition and all too often cost the lives of miners. "The single most prevalent cause of death in mines is roof failure, though there are fewer deaths in mines today because of automation," Dr. Meiksin says.
Gauging Stress Levels to Pinpoint Risk
The Israeli native who taught at the University of Pittsburgh during a 30-year career is developing a proprietary sensor that uses sound to gauge the stress levels of the rock above the mine pit to give engineers a chance to shore up the support structures before the roof collapses. Alertek's one-square-inch sensors are installed when construction crews insert the roof bolts for stability. Maintenance crews are then alerted when a specific degree of damage is recorded.
"The sensors adhere to the bolts and listen to what happens in the rock," Dr. Meiksin says. "Whenever something happens in the earth, there is pressure released. That's the basis of seismology. What we are doing is something similar, except at much higher frequencies. By seeing the patterns on the LEDs attached to the roof structures, we know where the problems will be."
The Pittsburgh startup company is supported by Ben Franklin Technology Partners (BFTP) in Southwestern Pennsylvania, known as Innovation Works. "I couldn't have started the company without BFTP's help," Dr. Meiksin says. "It was essential, simply because this is such a high-risk endeavor. Without this early support from BFTP, Alertek and other companies couldn't even come into existence." Innovation Works has committed more than $300,000 to Alertek to advance the research, but Dr. Meiksin estimates that it will take more than $1 million to move into production for the sensor systems.
“I couldn’t have started the company without BFTP’s help. It was essential, simply because this is such a high-risk endeavor.”
—DR. ZVI MEIKSIN,
FOUNDER & PRESIDENT, ALERTEK
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A History of Partnership with BFTP
The technology is loosely based on communications systems that Dr. Meiksin has already helped develop for the mining industry through a previous company, TransTek, that was also nurtured by BFTP. It was while working with miners that Dr. Meiksin learned of the challenges in predicting roof collapse.
He is already working with two major mining companies, Consol Energy and Foundation Coal, as well as the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to develop the technology. But he says the financial and business support offered by BFTP has been crucial to his success.
Early testing of the technology has been positive, but the ultimate test will be predicting an actual roof fall in a mine, and that's about a year away, Dr. Meiksin says. The technology also shows promise in other areas, such as testing bridges, retaining walls and other pre-stressed concrete structures in our national and international infrastructure because of the similarities between pre-stressed concrete and the way mine roofs are held in place by pre-stressing them during bolt installation.
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