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PENTADYNE-HP (composition PE-5U)

P-5 EXPLOSIVE HAVING HIGHER AIR GAP SENSITIVITY (AGS) FOR USE WITH
SPACERS IN BLASTING OFF-THE-SOLID FOR HIGHER PULL AND
MORE COAL OUTPUT

A new permitted P5 explosive PENTADYNE-HP having higher air gap sensitivity (AGS) has been
developed by the R&D wing of GULF OIL Corporation Limited – Explosives Division for carrying
out blasting using air decks within a shothole in underground coal mines. The air decks are
provided by hollow thin-walled PVC spacers suitably shaped to accommodate a 32 mm diameter
cartridge on either end. Confinement provided by the shothole further increases the air gap
sensitivity and ensures continuity of detonation of the explosive cartridges separated by spacers,
without the need for separate initiation of each deck. The primer cartridge is set-off with inverse
initiation and the rest of the cartridges get initiated by sympathetic detonation through the air gap.
The spacers provide an air gap of 15 cm between explosive cartridges, shoulder to shoulder.

Pentadyne-HP was developed for CMRI’s S&T Project “A Method Of Solid Blasting In
Underground Coal Mines For Improvement Of Pull In Development Faces Using Air-Decked
Cartridges”*.

In the context of using air deck, blasting-off-the-solid (BOS) is carried out using Pentadyne-HP and
Coal Delay Detonator in the conventional manner, except that the explosive cartridges are
separated by spacers described above. For the same number of explosive cartridges in a shothole,
use of spacer results in increased charge column length which enables increasing the depth of
shotholes drilled in coal face, resulting in increased pull and higher output of coal. Increased coal
output results in higher powder factor (t/kg) and since number of drillholes is same, resulting
detonator factor (t/detonator) is also higher. Alternately, for the shothole depth currently in use, the
explosive quantity can be reduced.

Sketch below gives the configuration of primer, explosive cartridges, spacers and stemming inside
a shothole.

Shothole

Spacer
Stemming Cartridge Detonator

(Sketch NOT to scale)

(* - Patent filed by CMRI No. 1538 DEL 2005)

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PENTADYNE-HP (composition PE-5U)

P-5 EXPLOSIVE HAVING HIGHER AIR GAP SENSITIVITY (AGS) FOR USE WITH
SPACERS IN BLASTING OFF-THE-SOLID FOR HIGHER PULL AND
MORE COAL OUTPUT

 PENTADYNE-HP is ideally suited for achieving maximum ‘advance’ (pull) among P5

category permitted explosives in India, in view of its high Air Gap Sensitivity (AGS) which
enables use of spacers between explosive cartridges.

 PENTADYNE-HP, in view of high AGS, does NOT require the use of detonating cord to
initiate explosive cartridges placed between spacers (as done in gallery Blasting).

 Use of spacers between explosive cartridges increases charge column length for same charge
weight in a shothole.

 Maximum charge per shothole allowed by DGMS in Degree-I mines for Blasting Off-The-Solid
(B-O-S) is 1000 grams (I Kg).

 5 cartridges of 200 grams each (viz 1000 grams) when charged ‘end-to-end’ will occupy a
charge length of 1050 mm viz 1.05 meter in a shothole.

1.05 m

 To achieve 40 MT of coal output at face per blast for LHDs to operate efficiently, minimum
advance required is 2.2 m for a face dimension of 3.5m x 3.5m or advance of 1.9m for a face
dimension of 3.5m x 4.00m.

 1000 grams/shothole charged end-to-end’ will occupy only 1.05m length of shothole. In a
shothole of 2.4 m depth, 1.35 m remains empty.

 Use of 4 spacers between 5 cartridges effectively increases the charge column length to
approx 1.65 m bringing down the uncharged length to 0.85 m.

1.65 m

1. DGMS Permission for using PENTADYNE-HP in Degree I Mines is available upto

27/08/2011
2. The permissible maximum charge in a shothole shall not exceed 1000 grams.
3. Air decking between cartridges of Pentadyne-HP should not exceed 15 cm.
4. Air decking should be provided with PVC spacers of the quality used in BG panels and the
average weight of PVC spacer should not exceed 21 grams.
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