Ventilation is an essential component of any underground mine, playing a vital role in ensuring the health and safety of workers, and a mines continuous operation. At a time when mining companies are increasingly having to turn to deeper underground operations to access high-grade ore-bodies, the search is on for more efficient ventilation systems that will allow mining to be carried on at ever deeper levels, ensuring the protection of workers, the maximisation of productivity and the lowering of energy costs. Mining companies are today looking to innovation to deliver new technologies and procedures that will enhance the profitability of their mines. With the energy costs associated with operating ventilation systems being a mines second-highest cost of production after labour - between 25% and 50% (Cheryl and Robert 2009) of the total energy requirements of an underground mine - finding the right ventilation solution can be critical to a mines performance. The continued use of diesel-powered machinery in ever deeper underground operations is resulting in the need to deliver a greater volume of fresh air over longer distances, generating additional friction, which in turn generates heat and increases the operating pressures of the ventilation fans (resistance), resulting in more powerful ventilations systems being required. The challenge is therefore to design and install more sophisticated and reliable ventilation systems that reduce air volumes and natural gas levels, and that significantly lower power consumption and thus deliver cost savings and corresponding reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) levels. Taking the time and making the investment to ensure proper planning and design of the ventilation system will ensure that it performs continuously at maximum efficiency, ensuring that the primary fans are able to operate within an optimum range that delivers the required airflow throughout the mine. Continuous air quality and temperature monitoring are essential to provide miners with a safe and healthy workplace. Effective Ventilation on Demand Systems (VoD) can save a significant amount of energy in a mines operation, but come at a cost, both initial and ongoing. These systems will need to be fine-tuned and re-adjusted as the mine grows, and mine ventilation practitioners must be adequately trained to analyse the changing mine conditions and to successfully implement the required ventilation solutions. In many instances, significant cost and energy savings can also be obtained by analysing and improving the current system on site. With a growing number of mining companies opting to reduce the size and capabilities of their ventilation engineering departments and increasing their dependence on fan manufacturers, the experience of the fan manufacturer can deliver important benefits to projects. To achieve optimal results, consideration should be given to the requirement for thorough testing at the factory. Fan suppliers should be able to test their fans at the factory at full power and simulating the mines future requirements, prior to being despatched to site.
CITATION:Fernandez, J, 2019. Using ventilation to drive mine productivity, in Proceedings Australian Mine Ventilation Conference 2019, pp 179193 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).