Underground » Health and Safety
This project represents a critical milestone in the development of next-generation life-support technology for the Australian underground coal mining and related industry, building on the foundational proof-of-concept established in the earlier project C28023.
The primary technical focus of this project was addressing the 'moisture barrier' identified previously, where the high relative humidity of human exhalation was found to deactivate membrane separation within 30 minutes of operation. The research successfully demonstrated that surface fluorination provides an intrinsic moisture-resistant barrier, allowing the membrane to maintain its gas separation functionality under saturated conditions.
Collaboration with an international research group has enabled the characterisation of ultra-rigid ladder polymers, which offer superior size-sieving precision required to meet metabolic CO2 removal targets while minimising breathing resistance.
On the hardware front, custom membrane housing has been developed for the Dräger BG4+ platform, transitioning the technology into a wearable form factor compatible with existing industry infrastructure. The project culminated in the commissioning of an in-house hollow fibre spinner at the host institution, securing a local capability for rapid prototyping and future production.