Electronic Delay Blasting Caps

Over the years, a definite need has surfaced for extremely-accurate delays. Electronic technology has advanced to the point that technology exists to create these accurate electronic delays at a reasonable cost. An electronic detonator with extremely-accurate firing times and the ability to have infinite delay periods at any interval of time can revolutionize the blasting industry. This initiation system would virtually eliminate the problems of cap scatter times, inaccurate firing and out-of-sequence shooting.

There are approximately a dozen different electronic detonator systems either in development or in use today. There are many differences in construction, timing precision, and methods of hookup and use. Electronic detonators can be grouped into two categories: Field programmed systems and factory programmed units. The factory programmed systems can be further grouped into electrically wired systems and systems, which use shock tube lines to energize electronic detonator.

Electronic Detonators are used at some quarries on a production basis despite of their high cost. Users claim that fragmentation is more uniform, muckpiles are predicable in shape, back walls are less damaged and vibration can be significantly lower and more predictable than when using other non-electronic detonators ( Figure 30).