Shock tube initiation for better fragmentation: A case study

Abstract

Explosive energy is the most commonly used form of energy to fragment rock mass/overburden and mineral deposits in the mines. Fragmentation obtained in the blasting process influences the downstream costs like loading cost, transportation cost, processing cost, etc. Among the various factors which influence the rock fragmentation, initiation system is one of the most important because presently much research is going on in this area of rock blasting. Some field studies were taken up with conventional detonating cord initiation and shock-tube-based NONEL initiation systems to study the influence of initiation systems on rock fragmentation. Fragmentation analysis was done using the boulder count method and image analysis. It was found that the shock-tube initiation gives 33% less boulders and 31% lesser K50 value compared to detonating cord initiation. 2004 Taylor & Francis Ltd.