MINE VENTILATION

Purpose of ventilation is
to supply fresh air to workers to dilute or disperse harmful gases to acceptable level to cool the deeper mines

Mine ventilation is mainly related to the quantity control of air, its movement and its distribution. distribution.

Conditioning functions and processes commonly used in mines consist of the following:

1) Quality Control a) Gas Control b) Dust Control 2) Quantity Control a)Ventilation b) Auxiliary or face ventilation c) Local exhaust 3) Temperature-Humidity Control a) Cooling b) Heating c) Dehumidification

Processes may be applied individually or jointly. We concentrate here on mine ventilation as the most important and universally used process. The engineering principles of mine air quality control are

1) Prevention 2) Removal 3) Suppression 4) Contaminant 5)Dilution

PROPERTIES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF MINE GASES Hydrogen:

It rarely occurs in mine gases. Its characteristics are: Chemical symbol Specific gravity Sources Effect on life Explosive range H2 0.070 Charging of batteries, fires and explosions. Action of strong acid water on iron. has no effect when breathed from 4.1% to 74%

Colorless, odorless, tasteless

Methane:

Methane is the most explosive gas in mines. The properties of methane are: Chemical symbol Specific gravity Source Effect on life Explosive range Colorless, odorless, tasteless CH4 0.555 from coal and adjoining strata. nonpoisonous 5% to 15%

Methane is lighter than air and will accumulate in the face of advance workings, in pockets in the roof and other places where there is no enough air in circulation.

A proper mixture of methane and air is explosive and can be ignited when there is 5% of methane present in the air. The maximum explosiveness of a methane and air mixture is reached when the methane present is about 10% of volume. If there is more than 15% of methane present, the mixture is not explosive due to insufficiency of oxygen.

MAC for CH4: 1% stop machines if CH4: 1.5% leave the mine if it is <2%

Nitrogen:

This is the most abundant gas in air. Its properties are: Chemical symbol Specific gravity Source Effect on life Explosive range N2 0.967 Normal constituent of air will not support life non explosive

Carbon Monoxide:
It is the most common poisonous gas encountered in mines and is known as white dump. Chemical symbol Specific gravity Source Effect of life Explosive range CO 0.967 Mine fires, explosions, blasting. very poisonous 12.5% to 74%

CO is the product of incomplete combustion. Considerable carbon monoxide is found in the air near mine fires and explosions. It is also produced during blasting operations using explosives.

Carbon Dioxide:

Chemical symbol Specific gravity Source Effect on life Explosive range

CO2 1.529 normal constituent of air slightly poisonous in large quantity non explosive

Colorless, odorless, slight acid taste in quantities. Its presence in mine air is increased by breathing of men, decaying of timbers. It is a product of complete combustion.

Determination of Dilution Requirements

The quantity of fresh air needed to dilute harmful gas is determined by the following relationship:

Q!

Q g (1  MAC ) MAC  B

where Qg: harmful gas inflow rate (m3/sec) MAC: maximum allowable concentration of gas B: concentration of gas in normal intake air (%)

Example:
Calculate the air quality necessary to dilute methane gas in a coal mine to its MAC when the inflow rate is (0.118 m3/sec) and its concentration in the in take air 0.1%. According to mine safety regulation, MAC for methane in a coal mine is 1%. Therefore

0.118 ?  0.01A 1 3 Q! ! 11.8 m / sec ?0.01  0.001A

QUANTITY CONTROL

Quantity control in mine ventilation is concerned with supplying air of the desired quantity and in the desired amount to all working places throughout the mine. Air is necessary not only for breathing but also to disperse chemical and physical contaminants (gases, dusts, heat and humidity).

Breathing requirements are easily met [0.01 m3/sec per person usually is enough]. However, higher minimum quantity of air per person should be 1.4 m3/sec at face, 4.3 m3/sec in the last crosscut of a coal mine or a minimum velocity at the coal face should be 0.3 m/sec.

The basis for specifying the amount of air flow in working places is the velocity or quantity needed to disperse or dilute contaminants. If the quantity needed for dilution is not enough for effective dispersion, then the velocity or quantity is increased to a certain level.

There is a proportional relationship between the quantity and the velocity as follows:

Q=V*A
where Q: quantity (m3/sec) V: velocity (m/sec) A: cross sectional area of the opening (m2).

Example:
Calculate the quantity of air needed to dilute 0.038 m3/sec of carbon dioxide in the stops of a metal mine and to maintain a critical face velocity of 0.76 m/sec. The cross-sectional area of each stop is 4.5*60 m and the CO2 content of the in take air is 0.03%. The MAC for CO2 is 0.5%.

0.038?  0.005A 1 3 Q! ! 7.98 m / sec 0.005  0.0003

for dilution. The quantity for effective dispersion Q=V*A=0.76*4.5*6.0=21.24 m3/sec Specify the critical quantity as the larger value Q=21.24 m3/sec

Once quantity requirements in all the working places have been specified, it is then necessary to create a pressure difference in the mine to provide desirable air flow. For this purpose, natural ventilation or mechanical ventilation is used. Natural ventilation is based on the pressure difference resulting from thermal energy. Mechanical ventilation uses rotational energy of a fan as energy resource. In modern mines only fans are used to provide a pressure difference for ventilation. Natural ventilation is too variable, unreliable and insufficient to be used.

Fans can be divided into two groups: centrifugal fans and axial fans. They are installed either in blower, booster or exhaust position. (Underground booster fans are strictly prohibited in coal mines).

PRESSURE LOSSES Pressure which forces air to move, continuously drops down while air travels through airways. Total pressure loss in a mine consists of sum of static pressure loss, Hs and velocity pressure loss Hv Mine HT=Mine Hs+Mine Hv

Static pressure loss is due to frictional loss (Hf) and shock losses (Hx). Frictional loss is mainly due to the friction between the surface of airway and air. Frictional loss depends on length of airway, perimeter, cross-sectional area and friction factor. Frictional loss can be calculated by the following equation:

K .C.L..V 2 Hf ! A

where

Hf: pressure loss in Pa (mmwater) L: C: A: K: length of the airway, m. perimeter of the airway, m. cross-sectional area of the airway, m2 friction factor, Ns2/m4

This equation is also known as Atkinson equation. Since V=Q/A, the Atkinson equation can be written as follows

K .C.L.Q 2 Hf ! A3

where

K .C .L R! 3 A

is the resistance of airway and

the Atkinson equation is reduced to the following simple form

H=R.Q2

Shock losses:

Shock losses mainly occur due to changes in direction and changes in cross-sectional area. Shock losses can be calculated by directly Hx=x.Hv where x: shock loss factor Hv: velocity pressure

Or by equivalent length method (Le):

The latter one is the most frequently used one and in this method, shock loss is expressed in terms of equivalent length of a straight airway. For this purpose the following table can be used:
Source of shock loss Entrance Discharge Construction gradual Construction abrupt Band, acute, sharp Equivalent length, m 1 22 0.4 3 50

Velocity pressure is given by

V2 Hv ! K 2

where

: density of air V: velocity of air

Velocity pressure is not considered in mine ventilation calculations only static pressure is used. Therefore, total pressure loss, HT is equal

K * C * ?L  Le A* Q HT ! H f  H x ! 3 A

Example:

Given a rectangular mine opening of cross-sectional dimensions 1.8*6, length 2250 m, and friction factor 0.00835, calculate the pressure difference for an airflow of 66.1m3/sec.

C=2[1.8+6]=15.6m A=1.8*6=10.8m2
0.00835 * 16.6 * 2250 * 66.12 H ! ! 953 Pascal 2 (10.8)