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AIME
CALLER NO. D, LITTLETON, COLORADO 80127
PREPRl NT
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THE OPTIMAL CONTROLLED FL0T.J MINE VENTILATION PROBLEM:
AN OPERATIONS RESEARCH APPROACH
D r . Thys B. Johnson
Randal J . Bar nes
D r . Rober t H. Ki ng
Col or ado School of Mines
Gol den, CO
For p r e s e n t a t i o n a t t h e
F i r s t I n t e r n a t i o n a l SME-AIHE F a l l Ne e t i ng
Honol ul u, Hawai i , Sept ember 4-9, 1982
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MINING ENGINEERING
The Optimal Cont rol l ed Flow Xn e Vent i l at i on
Problem: An Operat i on Research Approach
Abst r act . This paper present s a new
al gori t hm f or sol vi ng t he Cont rol l ed Flow Un e
Vent i l at i on Problem i n an opt i mal manner -
minimum power consumption. The use of boost er
f ans and r e s t r i c t i o n s on t he l ocat i ons of
ve nt i l a t i on r egul at or s a r e de a l t with i n a
st r ai ght f or war d mnner . This nev approach i s
based on a cornsun Operat i ons Research al gori t hm
f o r which t her e a r e uany f a s t computer programs
avai l abl e.
1. I nt r oduct i on
In many mine ve nt i l a t i on desi gn problems t he
requi red air qua nt i t i e s through all branches of
t he ve nt i l a t i on network a r e defi ned by mine
management based on heal t h and s af et y needs a t
working l ocat i ons (CFR 30), oper at i ng
experi ence, and t he demands of Ki rchhoff' s F i r s t
Law - conservat i on of flow a t any j unct i on.
rJhen such a s i t u a t i o n occurs, t he ve nt i l a t i on
engi neer is faced wi t h t he probl en of s e l e c t i ng
mine f ans, ve nt i l a t i on r egul at or s , and possi bl y
underground boost er fans, and pl aci ng them i n
allowed l ocat i ons t o achi eve t he necessary
ve nt i l a t i on network flows. This is t he
s i t u a t i o n addressed by t he Cont rol l ed Flov Kine
Vent i l at i on Problem as defi ned i n Wang (1982).
2. The Cont rol l ed Flow Problem
Unlike t he c l a s s i c ve nt i l a t i on net vork
anal ys i s problem of cal cul at i ng t he flows as a
r e s u l t of predefi ned fan c ha r a c t e r i s t i c s , f an
l ocat i ons , and mine r es i s t ances , t he cont r ol l ed
flow problem does not have a unique s ol ut i on.
a n y conf i gur at i ons of mine fans and ve nt i l a t i on
r egul at or s can yi el d t he defi ned mine network
f l ovs . The most reasonabl e c r i t e r i o n f or
choosing among t h i s mul t i t ude of pos s i bl e
s ol ut i ons is the mi ni mi zat i on of ve nt i l a t i on
power consumption. An addi t i onal pragmat i c
c r i t e r i o n is t he requi red use of avai l abl e
ve nt i l a t i on fans whenever possi bl e. Thi s
problem i s f ur t he r complicated by " r e a l wr l d "
physi cal cons t r ai nt s on the l ocat i ons of fan and
r egul at or i n s t a l l a t i o n s . Due t o s af et y
consi der at i ons, avai l abl e space, and product i on
i nconveni ences, it my be i nappr opr i at e to pl ace
ve nt i l a t i on equi pnent i n many l ocat i ons i n a
ni ne.
This probl en can be formulated as a l i ne a r
progran; the obj ect i ve is a l i ne a r f unct i on, as
ar e a l l of t he c ons t r a i nt s . Bawevcr, t r eat i ng
t h i s problem as a st andard l i ne a r program is
very i n e f f i c i e n t . The appl i cat i on of t he
s i npl ex a l g o r i t l n i gnores the network s t r uc t ur e
of t he probl en, and obfuscat es the i nf oma t i on
present ed by a s ol ut i on as v e l l . A conput s-
t i ona l l y f a s t a l t e r na t i ve can & found i n t he
ai ni awa cos t flow al gori t hm9 of Operat i ons
%search: e. g. t hc Qut-Of - Ki l t er al gori t hm,
Two s i gni f i c nnt papers have been present ed i n
t hc past on t he Controlled Flov Xine Vent i l at i on
Problem. Uang and Pam (1971) present ed a
l i ne a r p r o g r a d n g f o n u l a t i o n of t he cont r ol l ed
f l ov probl ea. While t he i r f or =ul et i on vss
compl et e, i t was conpl i cst ed, hnrd t o
underst and, and cooput at i onnl l p cumbersoae. In
1981, Dr . Wang present ed an' other paper i n which
a l i mi t ed form of t he cont r ol l ed flow probl en i s
anal yzed usi ng t he t echni ques of C.P.H. (Wang,
1981). This ' i magi nat i ve approach i s e a s i e r t o
underst and and comput at i onal l y f a s t ; however,
t he al gori t hm can not e f f e c t i ve l y deal wi t h
mul t i pl e boost er f ans, gener al r e s t r i c t i o n s on
t he l ocat i on of t he ve nt i l a t i on r egul at or s , or
t h e requi red use of cur r ent l y avai l abl e f ans.
3. Not at i on
I n formul at i ng t he cont r ol l ed flow problem,
t he f ol l ovi ng not at i on is used. To f a c i l i t a t e
readi ng, a l l i n i t i a l l y defi ned qua nt i t i e s a r e
super scr i pt ed v i t h an a s t e r i s k "*" .
*
Qij
= t he assi gned flow i n branch ( i , j ) .
EL- = t he cal cul at ed head l os s due t o
i j
f r i c t i o n acr oss branch (1, j ) .
EN* = the measured nat ur al ve nt i l a t i on
i j
head ( pr essur e r i s e ) acr oss branch
( i . l >.
*
BE = t he head ( pr essur e r i s e ) generat ed
i j
by an exi s t i ng f an i n branch ( i , j)
*
oper at i ng a t quant i t y Qi
j .
I F i j
t he head ( pr essur e r i s e ) f or t he new
f an i n branch ( i , j ) .
qj = t he head l os s acr oss t he r egul at or
i n branch ( i , j) .
Pi
- t he head (nodal pressure) a t
j unct i on "i" .
In order t o si mpl i fy mathematics and t o
el i mi nat e the need f or node-arc i nci dence
=t r i c e s , t he fol l ow not at i on is used.
i j - t he sum of a l l exi s t i ng branches
( i , l > .
4 . Problem Formulation
Given a complete s e t of flows which s a t i s f i e s
t he quant i t y requi rement s a t t he mr ki ng l oca-
t i ons and al s o s a t i s f i e s conservat i on of fl ow
(' Urchhoff ' s Fi r s t Law) , t he cont r ol l ed f l ov
problem can be mat hemat i cal l y fornul at ed as
shovn bel ov i n equat i ons (I. 1)-(1. 6). Without
l os s of gener al i t y, it is assuned t hat a l l
branches ar e defi ned t o l i e i n t he di r e c t i on of
f l ov: e.g. i n branch ( i , j ) flow goes from
j unct i on "i- t o j unct i on "j ".
The obj ect i ve funct i on 1s f or nul at ed t o
minimize power coaeumption. The main
cons t r ai nt s ar e a st at ement of the requi rement s
of l i i rchhoff' s Second b w for each branch. This
formul at i on of the cons t r ai nt s imposed by
Kirchhof f ' s Second I n w u t i l i z e s var i abl es f or
j unct i on head val ues r at her than deal i ng v l t h
t he gencr st l on of meshes.
Thc nnln cons t r ai nt s ar e brokcn Lnco four
cnt egor i cs ench r e l a t i ng t o one of t he four
d i f f e r e n t t73e3 of branches: t hose vhi ch al l ow
a ncu fan or n r e ~ u l a t o r ; chose vhich do noc
a Ll w a r egul at or ; thoac which do not a l l a v a
new f an; and t hos e which do not al l ow a new f a n
o r a r e g u l a t o r .
Mlnimize Power = ij $ij ( 1. 1)
Subj ect t o:
f o r all br anches al l owi ng a new f an o r a
r e gul a t or ( t h e al gor i t l r m w i l l not pl a c e bot h i n
a branch)
f o r a31 br anches al l owi ng a new f a n but not a
r e gul a t or
f o r a l l br anches al l owi ng a r e gul a t or but not a
new f an
f or a l l br anches al l owi ng a new f an
f o r a l l br anches al l owi ng a r e gul a t or
5. Sol ut i on Al gor i t hm
The a p p l i c a b i l i t y of a minimum c os t network
fl ow al gor i t hm ( t h e Out - Of - Ki l t er al gor i t hm) can
be most d i r e c t l y seen i n t he dua l of t he problem
pr es ent ed above. Le t t i ng t he dua l v a r i a b l e s
a s s oc i a t e d v i t h t he pr i mal c o n s t r a i n t s be
r epr es ent ed by Xi j , t he dual is wr i t t e n a s
f ol l ows .
Subj ect t o:
f o r all j unc t i ons
j X i j - E x = O ;
J li
(11. 2)
f o r a l l br anches a l l ovi ng a new f a n
*
Xij < Qi j
(Xi, has no upper bound i n br anches not al l owi ng
a new f a n ) ; f o r a l l br anches al l owi ng a
r e gul a t or
(Xi, has no l ower bound i n br anches not al l owi ng
a r e g u l a t o r ) .
Re vr i t i ng t he dua l maxi +zat i oa obj e c t i ve a s
a mi ni mi zat i on and s i mpl i f yi ng t h e v a r i a b l e s
y i e l d s t he f ol l owi ng f or mul at i on.
Subj ect t o :
f o r a l l j unc t i ons
f o r a l l br anches
*
Where t he u n i t c os t ( C ), l ove r bounds
i j
*
(L;,) and upper bounds ( U ) a r e de f i ne d a s
i il
f ol l ows :
f o r a l l br anches
c* = Em* + HE* - HL* .
i l i j i l i j
f o r a l l br anches al l owi ng a r e gul a t or
f o r a l l br anches not al l owi ng a r e gul a t or
f or a l l br anches al l owi ng a new f a n
f o r a l l br anches not a l l ovi ng a new f a n
U* = + - .
i l
The problem r e pr e s e nt e d by e qua t i ons
(111. 1)-(111. 3) i s an example of a minimum c o s t
f l ow problem. It is i mpor t ant t o not e t h a t t he
network i nvol ved i n s ol vi ng t he dua l problem i s
none ot he r t han t ha t de f i ni ng t he v e n t i l a t i o n
net work - no a d d i t i o n a l computer space is
r e qui r e d. There a r e many e xc e l l e nt books i n t he
f i e l d of Oper at i ons Research di s c us s i ng t h i s
t ype of ge ne r a l network problem ( e. g. Hi ni eka,
1978; J ens en and Barnes, 1980; Kenni ngt on and
Hel gason, 1980).
The a c t u a l pr i mal va r i a bl e s of i n t e r e s t ,
=%
and BFij, a r e e a s i l y r e t r i e v e d from t he opt i mal
dua l s ol ut i on. qj i s t he pr i mal v a r i a b l e
a s s oc i a t e d wi t h t he dua l l ower bound c o n s t r a i n t s
and ?IFij i s t he pr i mal va r i a bl e a s s oc i a t e d wi t h
t he dual upper bound c o n s t r a i n t s . Al so, t he
nodal pr e s s ur e s , Pi, a r e t he pr i mal v a r i a b l e s
a s s oc i a t e d wi t h t he dual c ons e r va t i on of f l ow
c o n s t r a i n t s . The nodal pr e s s ur e s , c a l l e d
t he ff va r i a bl e s i n t he ge ne r a l Oper at i ons
Resear ch problem, a r e d i r e c t l y out put by any
Out-Of - Ki l t e r computer code. Thus, t he
f ol l owi ng formul ae yi e l d t he opt i mal f an and
r e gul a t or heads.
t hen ERij - Pi - pj + C*
i j '
and IPij = 0
t hen EP i j - Pj - Pi - C*
i l '
and qj ' 0
L f t * < X < u *
il i j il '
t hen q j m O ,
and HFij 0 .
6. Example
The f ol l ovi ng s m a l l example i l l u s t r a t e s t he
power and s i mp l i c i t y of t he f or mul at i on and
s o l u t i o n pr ocedur e pr es ent ed i n t h i s paper .
Fi gur e 1 de pi c t s a s i mpl e v e n t i l a t i o n net work.
Tabl e 1 summarizes t he neces s ar y problem
s t a t e me nt i nf or mat i on r e qui r e d by t h e
a l gor i t hm. Thi s f or mul at i on a l l o v s f o r an
e x i s t i n g mine f a n l oc a t e d i n Branch ( 6, 1) , and
pos s i bl y boos t er f ans i n Branches ( 2, 5) and
( 3, 4) . The pr eas s i gned br anch f l ows i ndi c a t e d
i n Tabl e 1 need t o be achi eved. Ve nt i l a t i on
r e g u l a t o r s may onl y be l oc a t e d i n Branches
( 2 , 4 ) , ( 2, 5) , and ( 3, s) . The head l os s e s due t o
f r i c t i o n and n a t u r a l v e n t i l a t i o n pr e s s ur e s a r e
a s i ndi c a t e d.
Tabl e 2 summarizes t he a l gor i t hm i nput and
Tabl e 3 t he a l gor i t hm out put . Tabl e 4 shows t he
f i n a l de s i gn i nf or mat i on de r i ve d from t he va l ue s
Fn Tabl e 3. The opt i ma l s o l u t i o n t o t h i s
problem is t o pl ace v e n t i l a t i o n r e gul a t or s i n
Branches ( 2, 4) and ( 3 , 5 ) , and boos t e r f a ns i n
Branches ( 2. 5) and ( 3 , 4 ) . Thi s s ol ut i on y i e l d s
a t o t a l power r equi r ement of 33, 200.
7. Concl usi on
Oper at i ons Research t echni ques a r e an
ext r emel y pover f ul s e t of t ool s which can be
a ppl i e d t o mine v e n t i l a t i o n de s i gn probl ems. I n
t h i s paper a new t echni que is pr es ent ed t o s ol ve
t he Cont r ol l ed Flow Nine Ve nt i l a t i on probl em.
Thi s new appr oach i s founded on a commonly
a v a i l a b l e mat hemat i cal programming a l gor i t hm:
t he Out - Of - Ki l t er a l gor i t hm. Unl i ke t he C.P.M.
appr oach of Wang ( 1981) , t h i s nev t echni que can
e f f e c t i v e l y de a l wi t h complex c o n s t r a i n t s on t he
pl acement of boos t e r f a ns and v e n t i l a t i o n
r e g u l a t o r s . Eovever, l i k e t he C.P.H. approach
t h e a l gor i t hm i s comput at i onal l y f a s t , e a s i l y
l e a r ne d and i mpl ement ed, and f u l l y u t i l i z e s t he
net work s t r u c t u r e of t he problem.
Though t he s ol ut i on pr ocedur e pr es ent ed i n
t h i s paper s ol ve s t he Cont r ol l ed Flow .Wne
Ve nt i l a t i on Problem, a gr e a t de a l mcre vor k is
needed i n t he a ppl i c a t i on of Operaci ona Research
t echni ques t o mine Ve nt i l a t i on problems. For
exampl e, a r e s t a t e me nt of t he obj e c t i ve from
mi ni mi zi ng v e n t i l a t i o n power consumpt i on t o
mi ni mi zi ng t o t a l v e n t i l a t i o n c o s t s coul d be
i nve s t i ga t e d. Al so, t he c ont r ol l e d fl ow problem
starts wi t h a compl et e s e t of as s i gned fl ows.
' Ihis pr e s e nt s a s i g n i f i c a n t l i mi t a t i o n t o t he
s o l u t i o n pr es ent ed. Bovever, t he l i n e a r minimum
c o s t f l ow approach di s c us s e d can be used a s t he
c or ne r s t one of an a l gor i t hm t o s ol ve t he ge ne r a l
Optimum Nine Ve nt i l a t i on Desi gn Problem. The
Optimum ?line Ve nt i l a t i on Design Robl em may be
f or mul at ed as a s t a nda r d non- l i near programming
problem arid s ol ved us i ng c l a s s i c a l non- l i near
programming t echni ques , but , t he a ut hor s f e e l
t h a t a more e f f e c t i v e s ol ut i on t o t he problem
can be found i n t he j udi c i ous use of t he
c ont r ol l e d f l o v a l gor i t hm pr es ent ed by t h i s
paper .
Ref er ences
J ens en, P.B., and J . W. Barnes, 1980, Net vork
Flow Programming, John Wiley 6 Sons, New York.
Kenni ngt on, J.L., and R.V. Eel gason, 1980,
Al gori t hms f or Network Programming, John Wiley
6 Sons, New York.
Mni e ka , E., 1978, Opt i mi zat i on Al gori t hms f or
Net vorks and Graphs, Marcel L k ~ k e r , Nev York.
Wang, Y. J . , 1981, "A Cr i t i c a l Pat h Approach t o
Hine Ve nt i l a t i on Networks With Cont r ol l ed
Fl ovs", SE Pr e pr i nt No. 81-23, XI XE annual
meet i ng, Chicago.
Vang, Y. J . , 1982, " Ve nt i l a t i on Network l heor y",
Nine Ve nt i l a t i on and Air Condi t i oni ng, Second
Edi t i on, H.L. Hartman ed ., pp. 483-516.
Wang, Y. J . , and X.T. Pa m, 1971, "Sol ut i on of
t he Nine Ve nt i l a t i on Network Problem by Li near
Programming", SME .?reprint So. 71AU132, .ADE
annual meet i ng, New York.
4
TABLE 1. PROBLEM INFORMATION
I J Q : j EL* RE* F.W REG.
11
HN*
11
" ALLOmD ALLOmD
2 4 10 110 0 0 NO YES
2 5 20 250 0 0 YES YES
3 6 10 300 0 0 YES NO
3 5 10 170 0 0 NO YES
TABLE 2. ALGORITHM INPUT
TABLE 3. ALGORITHM OUTPUT
TABLE 4 . DESIGX LNFORMATION