Only on the market for the past 12 months, the product has been well received by mines, particularly those auditing against MDG41.

The hose restraint and energy diffusion system was designed to restrain hydraulic hose assemblies in the event of a joint or coupling failure.

“The path we took was to evaluate the potential forces in play for a number of the key pressure hoses and commission a company that specialises in load/lifting and restraint systems to work alongside us in the development of a suitable product for each application,” Alfagomma national sales manager Brenton Holmes said.

The restraint’s primary function is to prevent any mechanical contact damage inflicted on personnel and/or equipment within strike range in the event of hose end or coupling failure.

If a hose end or coupling fails, an unrestrained hose will move with incredible force and speed striking out at anything in its path.

The restraint device is designed to secure and capture the released energy preventing mechanical injury. It does this by capturing or containing the hose before it has a chance to strike out.

The device works together with a burst suppression sleeving and other types of fluid injection protection measures.

The restraint is made from a woven galvanised steel wire rope that terminates in an attachment eye. The weaving is structured so that the greater the axial force that is applied the tighter the grip becomes – much like the old Chinese finger locks.

Holmes said because the restraint minimises the whipping effect and direct dissipation of energy in a straight line, it was a benefit over whip checks – which he said convert axial force into rotational force, ie whipping in an arc.

A series of destructive tests have been performed on the restraint to test service performance of the design, failure point and mode of failure.

To date Alfagomma’s most successful installation was at Ashton when earlier this year one of its devices successfully contained a failure.

“We were also fortunate in receiving back from site the device concerned for purposes of post-incident analysis,” Holmes said.

“By analysing this real life sample and comparing it to the test samples we are hoping to further refine our understanding of the devices and learn more about the escape forces present in a modern longwall system.”