May 2017 www.coalage.com 31
ventilation controls continued
To break in, LMS employed a scattergun approach. "We've
approached many folks with the products," Cerklefskie said. On
a visit to an Alabama miner, he made the right contacts at the
right time and things escalated. "We happened to catch high-lev-
el management at a meeting and really made an impression on
them," he said. "Not just on that product alone, but from a whole
portfolio standpoint of offering premier products."
The miner had ventilation issues. It was "fighting for air,"
Cerklefskie said. Their setup, he said, was a high-pressure system
using 20-in. fiberglass tubing and standard contra-rotating fans
and fan series.
"The requirement at the end of the tube was 15,000 ft
3
per
minute," he said. "They struggled even at 250 ft to have enough
air at the end of the tube."
Cerklefskie said this was not an uncommon problem. "Be-
cause of fiberglass being prone to leakage, more often than not,
I've seen mines always fighting for air," Cerklefskie said. "What
they are doing is they're wrapping Saran Wrap around these things,
and doing all they can to keep that flow going as good as they can."
LMS presented some design calculations using a duct simula-
tor. Eventually a deal was struck, Cerklefskie said. "On our second
or third visit, finally, we had the Aha! moment." HardLine tubing
had been tested previously in coal mines in Pennsylvania and
West Virginia. "This one in Alabama is our first full run that was
installed," he said.
Joints, dubbed Slinkies, lack moving parts and are reportedly made of
a rugged textile. In demos, 'we usually bring a fabric sample in and
have the biggest guy in the mine try and tear it apart,' Cerklefskie
says. 'Every time he can't.' Above, a 20-in. to 16-in. Wye Reducer
connects to a 16-in. tube via a Slinky.