A Hybrid Approach for Efficient Modeling of Medium-Frequency Propagation in Coal Mines.

An efficient procedure for modeling medium frequency (MF) communications in coal mines is introduced. In particular, a hybrid approach is formulated and demonstrated utilizing ideal transmission line equations to model MF propagation in combination with full-wave sections used for accurate simulation of local antenna-line coupling and other near-field effects. This work confirms that the hybrid method accurately models signal propagation from a source to a load for various system geometries and material compositions, while significantly reducing computation time.

Medium frequency propagation characteristics of different transmission lines in an underground coal mine.

A medium frequency (MF) communication system operating in an underground coal mine couples its signals to a long conductor, which acts as an MF transmission line (TL) in a tunnel to permit communications among transceivers along the line. The TL is generally the longest signal path for the system, and its propagation characteristics will have a major impact on the performance of the MF communication system. In this study, the propagation characteristics of three types of MF TLs in two layouts-on the roof and on the floor of a coal mine tunnel-were obtained in an effort to understand the propagation characteristics of different TLs in different locations.