National Story - THE AIR WE BREATHE

Series

Series Name
Mining Review 19th Year

Issue

Issue No.
9
Date Released
May 1966
Stories in this Issue:
  1. 1Glamorgan - ON TOUR
  2. 2National Story - THE AIR WE BREATHE
  3. 3Northumberland - ORIENTAL TOUCH
  4. 4Lancashire - FIREBIRDS

Story

Story No. within this Issue
2 / 4
Summary
BFI synopsis: air supply in the mines.
NCB Commentary - The air we breathe is all around us. It’s presence is vital to life. Without it we should die.
Every living thing draws its sustenance from the air - carbon dioxide for plants, oxygen for men and animals.
In our mines, men and machines need air - air to breathe, air to carry away dust and gases, air to make work and life possible.
Whenever you are near a pithead, you are very likely to hear the steady hum of the motors that dirve the fans - the fans that ventilate the mine.
Every mine has at least two headstocks - the downcast shaft is open, the upcast is as air-tight as possible to let the fan draw air through the mine.
A key job at any mine is that of the Ventilation Officer. He’s responsible for a continual check of the air supply, both its quantity, and its quality.
The barometer tells him the pressure of the atmosphere. And he must check that normal ventilation conditions are being maintained by the fan.
The amount of air circulating round the pit is measured at many different points. He uses an anemometer to measure the air-flow and from that can calculate the amount of air circulating.
Where air speed is low he uses a smoke generator. The time the smoke cloud travels a given distance is the basis of his calculations.
Not only quantity, but quality are important. Gases like methane are dangerous, and their presence must be checked so that measures can be taken to disperse them.
The ventilation officer takes frequent samples at suspect locations. These he sends to the area laboratory for analysis.
Here they measure not only the amount of methane, but also the carbon dioxide, oxygen and nitrogen content of each sample.
In the fan house are the lungs of the mine. Thousands of cubic feet of air are pumped through the workings night and day. There are usually two motors and two fans, one ready to take over the instant the other may have to be halted.
In a mine, the air supply is never taken for granted.
Few of us on the surface ever give the air we breathe more than a passing thought.
Keywords
Mining
Written sources
British Film Institute Databases   Used for synopsis
The National Archives COAL 32   /13 Scripts for Mining Review, 1960-1963
Credits:
Sponsor
National Coal Board
Production Co.
National Coal Board Film Unit

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