Performance evaluation of emulsion/water-gel explosives and comparison with dynamite in Sri Lankan quarrying/mining practice

Abstract

In the Sri Lankan context, Gelatin Dynamite has been one of the widely used explosives for rock blasting purposes. Water-gel (WG) explosive is in the process of being introduced to the Sri Lankan mining industry. So far there had been only a very few tests conducted to assess the suitability and to evaluate the performance of this explosive with other available explosives. Complaints made by the users as regard to the performance of WG have been a cause of concern. In this research, performance comparison of WG with Dynamite as regards rock break-out in underground tunnelling has been carried out. Comparison of fragmentation with the evaluation of particle size distribution in concrete block blasting, using three types of explosives (WG, Dynamite &Emulsion) has been one of main tests. Gap sensitivity, density and the determination of Velocity of Detonation has also been carried out.