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Harmonisation of flammability tests for conveyor belts for use in deep coal mines in the EC

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There are still substantial differences between the methods prescribed for testing the flammability of conveyor belts in the various Member States. Completion of the single market, which will lead to the disappearance of trade barriers, requires these test methods to be harmonised. the aim of this research project is to standardise within the EC the fire resistance requirements which conveyor belts used underground must comply with.
The Belgian tests in themselves allow interesting conclusions to be drawn, which an be summarised as follows:

1. Use of the modified stand improves the consistency of results by eliminating the influence of belt shrinkage caused by the heat.
2. The tests on samples with artificially damaged surfacing can be abandoned.
3. The minimum post-test intact length of test pieces remains the best belt assessment criterion.
4. A 'high-energy' test (with double burner, for example) is necessary to establish the fire behaviour of thick belts and belts with high mechanical strength.
In the course of its activities, Working Group No 3 of CEN Technical Committee No 188, whose task is to draw up harmonised safety standards for conveyor belts for underground use in coal mines, soon came to realise that there were significant differences between the test methods used to establish the fire behaviour of such belts in the Member States concerned.

In a bid to propose a harmonised fire behaviour test for all Member States, Germany, Belgium, France and the United Kingdom each carried out gallery tests on eight different types of conveyor belt.

Each participating country supplied the other three samples of two different conveyor belts which were representative of its national production. They included textile cord, steel cord, PVC-covered and rubber-covered belts, with variable degrees of mechanical strength.

Each country tested each belt in accordance with the rules they applied for their own gallery tests. A 'high-energy' test was also carried out (Belgium's double-burner test corresponds to the French standard), as well as a common test with the stands modified where necessary so that they were identical at all test centres.

This contract covers the tests carried out in Belgium at the ISSeP's Colfontaine test centre. It therefore does not include the comparative study of the tests by the four participating countries, which is the subject of a joint report by the members of the Working Group.

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INSTITUT SCIENTIFIQUE DE SERVICE PUBLIC - ISSeP
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