The Sensidyne CDEM-1000 Coal Dust Explosibility Meter is a portable, handheld, easy-to-use instrument, designed to provide a direct indication of the potential explosibility of a coal and rock dust mixture in accordance with Title 30, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 75.403.

The CDEM was originally developed at the NIOSH Office of Mine Safety and Health Research Laboratory in Pittsburgh and then recently commercialized as a joint effort with NIOSH and Sensidyne, LP of Clearwater, Florida. The CDEM-1000 meets the needs of mining operators, safety inspectors, and regulators when following the coal dust sample collection guidelines as described in Bureau of Mines Information Circular I.C. 7113 or MSHA Handbook, Number PH-08-V-1. Current regulations require the application of inert rock dust in all underground areas of coal mines to mitigate the propagation of a coal dust explosion. The CDEM-1000 is intended to be used as a screening tool to help manage daily rock dusting operations and to help mitigate the explosion hazard potential by identifying inadequate rock dusting applications. The CDEM-1000 can also be used as an effective tool by mine operators to help determine a more efficient balance between coal dust and rock dust levels.

“For the first time mine operators will have a real time device to help in identifying and mitigating the explosion hazards resulting from inadequate rock dust levels”, said Howard Mills, President of Sensidyne, LP. “Sensidyne is proud to offer a device which we believe can become an important tool to further improve the operations and safety of the coal mining industry and its miners.”      

Sensidyne, LP is a member of the Schauenburg Group, a family-owned international group of companies headquartered in Mϋlheim-Ruhr, Germany specializing in safety instrumentation, communications technologies, plastics processing, machinery and equipment and engineering products. Schauenburg is a trusted supplier of electronic instrumentation and other equipment to the mining and tunneling industries. For more information on the CDEM-1000 from Sensidyne or their air sampling and gas detection products, visit their website www.Sensidyne.com.