Utilization of low-density emulsion to increase blasting efficiency and safety environment

Abstract

The low-density emulsion was developed to replace ANFO, an explosive with weak resistance to water and tends to produce fume in the blasting process. Hanwha Mining Service Indonesia has developed low-density products with the brand Himex 70 LD. The base chemical emulsion uses the addition of a chemical as a gassing agent and a control gassing which can maximize the density of the emulsion up to 0.85 gr/cc. The stability of the emulsion is maintained by increasing the product's viscosity. This study aimed to determine the performance of using low-density emulsion Himex 70 LD on the fragmentation, digging time, use of powder factor, and product stability against fumes. Based on project data, Himex 70 LD can produce optimal blasting results with a detonation value velocity reaching more than 4500 m/s. Himex 70 LD also reduces powder factor usage by up to 0.17 compared to pf usage in normal density emulsion with an average pf of 0.19. The resulting fragmentation size reaches 586.56 mm at 80% passing and digging time in the average range of 9.2 to 11.8 seconds. The low-density emulsion is also effectively stable even in wet holes and produces no yellow fume or zero NOX detonation.