Comparison of blasting efficiency and environmental effects of electronic and non-electric ignition systems

Electronic ignition systems, which have a place in the literature and the world for 30 years and are currently used the 5th generation, still have not found any area of use other than special applications in our country. Among the reasons for this are that our country's mining engineers do not show enough inclination to this subject, the unit prices are relatively higher, there is not enough work on the subject, there are not enough Turkish resources and people are not aware of what they can do with the electronic ignition system. Delays in electronic ignition systems can be programmed at 1 ms intervals with the microchip used instead of the pyrotechnic delay element. 10% delay deviations experienced in systems using pyrotechnic delay elements decrease up to 0.1 ms in electronic ignition systems. This allows the engineer to gain flexibility while designing and to apply the designed delays exactly. Accordingly, electronic ignition systems provide many benefits in terms of blasting efficiency and environmental effects of blasting. This study was carried out with the aim of highlighting the advantages of electronic ignition systems and leading to increased use in Turkey. Within the scope of the study, 3 blasts were carried out using electronic ignition system in 2 different polymetallic mines in Turkey and the data were recorded. These data were compared with the detonations using the non-electrical ignition system. As a result of the comparison, the positive contributions of the electronic ignition system to the environmental effects of blasting and blasting efficiency are clearly evident.