Sulfur Hexafluoride as a Mine Ventilation Research Tool - Recent Field Applications

Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) is an odorless, colorless, nontoxic gas that has found acceptance as a tracer gas in research on ventilation patterns, measurement of air leak rates, respirable dust reductions due to bagging hood modifications, and the study of airflows relating to gob boreholes. Following a short review of the SF6 sampling technique, this report describes recent Bureau of Mines projects in which SF6 was used successfully as a tracer gas, enabling researchers to acquire representative data quickly and inexpensively.