MINUTES
Technical Advisory Committee on Diesel-Powered Equipment
Fayette County Health Center, Uniontown, PA
December 19, 2000

 

The Technical Advisory Committee on Diesel-Powered Equipment (TAC) held a special meeting on December 19 at the Fayette County Health Center in Uniontown. The meeting began at 10:03 a.m.

Attendance:

Members Present:

Eugene Davis
Robert DuBreucq

Others Present:

Richard E. Stickler, BDMS
Matthew A. Bertovich, BDMS
Joseph A. Sbaffoni, BDMS
William B. Bookshar, BDMS
Joe Mazur, RAG Cumberland Resources
Michael Peelish, RAG American Coal
Bob Bohach, RAG Cumberland Resources
Harry M. Powell, Jr., UMWA Local 2300
John H. Ealy, UMWA Local 2300
John Gallick, RAG Emerald Resources
Charles Brant, UMWA Local 1980
Todd Moore, Consol Energy, Dilworth Mine
Chuck Burggraf, RAG American Coal Holding
Allison D. Gaida, BDMS

Minutes of the October 25 meeting were distributed. A discussion was held pertaining to the statement made by Gene Davis that diesel-fueled emergency fire-fighting equipment used underground should be approved on a mine-by-mine basis. It was pointed out by Matthew Bertovich that Section 201 of the Act does not require the approval of equipment used "for emergency fire-fighting equipment to be used specifically for that purpose." The TAC clarified their position on Section 201 of the Act, which deals with emergency fire-fighting equipment. They believe that, although this type of equipment does not have to be approved by the Bureau, any emergency fire-fighting equipment that is operated underground in a non-emergency application, which would include any underground operation for maintenance purposes, would have to have a plan submitted to the TAC under alternative methods of meeting the Act as stated in Section 224-A and approved by the Secretary. The TAC also read the following statement which was to be included in the record of the October 25 minutes pertaining to the provisions of Section 213-A:

"In regards to Section 213-A(b)(2)(iv) which states that "Service and Maintenance of approved complete diesel-powered equipment packages shall be performed according to component manufacturer’s recommendations", it is the opinion of the TAC that you must follow the component manufacturer’s recommendation for all maintenance. However, if the manufacturer’s recommendations are in conflict with the underground Bituminous Coal Mining Laws set forth in Article II-A, then that maintenance cannot be performed in the underground workings of the mine unless a plan is submitted to the TAC as set forth in Section 224-A regarding alternative methods of meeting the rule or new technologies and approved by the Secretary."

With these two changes, the minutes were approved.

Old Business:

Engine ApprovalSince November, the Isuzu 6BG1 engine has been at Southwest Research Institute (SWRI) in San Antonio, Texas. To date, the MSHA Part A testing (inby equipment) for raw emissions baseline, gaseous emission baseline, and surface temperature is complete. Filter efficiency testing is not complete at this time due to problems experienced at SWRI. Part B MSHA testing (outby equipment) is not started, but is scheduled for early January.

Procedure for Cleaning Heat Exchanger - Bob Bohach read the letter that RAG Cumberland submitted to the TAC on December 10 relative to two alternate procedures for cleaning the heat exchanger. The TAC believes that the one procedure that incorporates items 1 and 2 of the request does not need to be submitted to the TAC and is in the jurisdiction of the Department. The second procedure, identified as item #3, involves an alternate method that, if requested, should be submitted to the TAC for review. Richard Stickler stated that the manufacturer established and published a procedure for cleaning heat exchangers that was covered at the Bureau’s training on June 20 and is the procedure that will be enforced as required by the Act. However, if this gets changed through the manufacturer, that’s something the Bureau would consider.

Mining Diesel Emissions Conference - There was a short discussion on the benefit of attending the October 2001 Mining Diesel Emissions Conference (MDEC) in Canada. The TAC believes that they and others should attend the future MDEC conference.

Modified Baselines – RAG submitted a request dated December 5 requesting that the TAC consider a modified baseline for the MLD-02 (Caterpillar 3306 PCNA engine with DST) since the baseline established for this unit prior to being put into service at the Cumberland Mine was exceptionally low at 94 ppm of carbon monoxide (CO). The TAC reviewed all 100-hour tests performed at Cumberland Mine on the MLD-01, -02, -03, and -04. In order to establish a statistical average of these tests with a high degree of certainty, the lowest and highest 5 percent of the test results were discarded and the remainder was used to calculate the statistical average of 169 ppm. The TAC will submit a letter of recommendation to the Bureau that 169 ppm of CO be used as the baseline for the MLD-02 unit.

A second letter dated December 5 requested that a modified baseline for the Caterpillar 3304 equipment ERO 5402 8503 be established since the baseline established for this unit prior to being put into the Cumberland Mine was exceptionally low at 114 ppm CO. There was a discussion concerning the similarities of the Caterpillar 3306 (6 cylinder) and the Caterpillar 3304 (4 cylinder) engines that are generally accepted as being the same relative to emissions on a per cylinder basis. Since relatively few 100 hours tests have been conducted on these units, statistical averaging was not deemed to be appropriate. However, since the engines on a per cylinder basis are deemed to be identical, the TAC is submitting a written recommendation to the Bureau that 169 ppm of CO be used as a baseline for the ERO 5402 unit.

Modified Baseline Test Procedures - RAG Cumberland Resources submitted recommendations for modified baseline test procedures based upon each specific engine model. The TAC indicated that they would not make a formal recommendation at this time due to a need to further research this matter. They elicited the help of the Bureau and interested parties at the meeting to submit data and participate in the research. They expect to have a recommendation to the Bureau at the next scheduled meeting.

New Business:

The TAC requested that the meeting scheduled for January 17, 2001, be changed to February 1, 2001, at 10 a.m. due to previous commitments. Agenda items for the next meeting are:

The meeting adjourned at 11:30 a.m.