Eighth International Mine Ventilation Congress

477 Pages·2005·27.88 MB·477\477

by  Gillies, A.D.S.

Eighth International
Mine Ventilation Congress
-
6 8 July 2005
Brisbane, Australia
The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
Publication Series No 612005
Edited by
A D S Gillies
Published by
THE AUSTRALASIAN INSTITUTE OF MINING AND METALLURGY
Level 3, 15 - 31 Pelham Street, Carlton Victoria 3053 Australia
©TheAustralasianInstituteofMiningandMetallurgy2005
PapersacceptedforthisCongressandpublishedwithinthisvolumehavebeenpassedthroughapeerreviewprocessand
editedpriortopublication.
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Contents
Cooling I
PerformanceandAcceptanceTestingofMineRefrigerationPlants DJBrake 3
ImprovingtheEfficiencyofMineVentilationandCoolingSystems REGundersen, 13
ThroughActiveControl FHvonGlehnand
RWWilson
VentilationandCoolingDesignforLongDeclines MJHowes 19
ModernCoolingStrategiesforUltra-DeepHydropowerMines JJLduPlessis,DScottand 29
HESMoorcroft
EjectorRefrigerationSystemsforChilledWaterUsingHigh-Pressure MDButterworthandTJSheer 35
WaterastheMotiveFluid
Cooling II
PlanningofAirCoolingSystemsinMinesandTunnels WSchlotteandJWalasiak 43
FactorsInfluencingtheChoiceofCoolingandRefrigerationSystems RRamsden,ARBranchand 49
forMines RWWilson
SurfaceCoolingatKiddCreekMine MJHowesandKHortin 55
MaximisingtheOutputofaSurfaceBulkAirCoolingInstallationon DOdelCastillo,TBaardand 65
aSouthAfricanMine APieters
AnIntegratedApproachTowardstheOptimisationofVentilation, RCWWebber-Youngman 75
AirCoolingandPumpingRequirementsforHotMines
Heat
TheContributionofCementedBackfilltoHeatLoadsinMines EDeSouzaandAHewitt 87
HeatIllnessinMining AMDonoghue 95
ComparativeEvaluationofFoggingPhenomenonintheRampof AMartikainen 103
ThreeMinesinFinland
UndergroundMineVentilationPlanningandDesignWithRegardsto CARawlinsandHRPhillips 111
HeatLoadandCoolingMechanisms
SteamOutburstinaHotMineinJapan MInoue 123
Respirable Dust
EffectiveControlofRespirableDustinUndergroundCoalMinesinthe JFColinet,GVRGoodman, 129
UnitedStates JMListak,GJChekan,
JPRider,DEPollockand
EDThimons
AnInvestigationofAirandDustFlowPatternsAroundtheLongwall RBalusu,SChaudari, 135
Shearer THarveyandTRen
AFieldDemonstrationofaModifiedWetScrubberforDustControlin YPChugh,MMAlam, 143
anIllinoisCoalMine APatwardhanand
KKThatavarthy
State-of-the-ArtinMonitoringRespirableMineAerosols JCVolkwein,EDThimons, 151
RJTimko,EEHall,
SEMischler,FNKisselland
RPVinson
UsingVentilationControlTechnologytoReduceRespirableDust ABCecala,JAZimmer, 157
ExposuresatUSMetal/Non-metalMiningOperations JFColinet,RJTimko,
GJChekanandDEPollock
Case Studies I
Generation,TransportandControlofDustinFrozen,Underground YWZhangand 169
PlacerMinesintheArctic SBandopadhyay
ImprovedVentilationandDustCaptureinUndergroundCrushingPlants SASilvester,ISLowndes, 175
SWKingmanandDWhittles
InfluenceofSectionIntakeDustLevelsasanExposureAssessment BKBelleandHRPhillips 183
ParameterinDustExposureLevelIndex(DELI)Model
EvaluationofPerson-WearableMethaneMonitors JEChilton,CDTaylor, 189
EEHallandDSYantek
PredegassingofCoalSeamsinGermanHardCoalMines JBrandtandEKunz 197
Gases
LongwallGoafGasDrainageandControlStrategiesforHighlyGassy RBalusu,NTuffs,RPeace 201
Mines andSXue
MethodsforEvaluatingExplosionResistantVentilationStructures MJSapko,ESWeissand 211
SPHarteis
ManagementofSeamGasEmissionandSpontaneousCombustionina RMoreby 221
HighlyGassy,ThickandMultiSeamCoalMine—ALearningExperience
ExperienceWithProductioninaGassyEnvironment,OakyNorthMine RPackham 231
TheContinuingEvolutionofGasDrainageinAustralia MABlanch,EYurakov, 239
DJAshelfordandMISlater
Diesel
ControlsBeingUsedtoReduceDieselParticulateMatterExposuresin RAHaney,MJSchultz, 249
USUndergroundMetalandNon-MetalMines RLRudeandDMTomko
Long-TermEvaluationofDieselParticulateFilterSystemsatInco’s JSStachulak,BRConard, 255
StobieMine ADBugarskiand
GHSchnakenbergJr
DieselParticulateMatterControlTechnologiesandMeasurementsin SEMischler,ADBugarski 263
USMines andGHSchnakenbergJr
FiltrationEfficiency,SecondaryEmissionsandReliabilityofParticleFilter AMayer,JCzerwinski, 275
SystemsinUndergroundWorkplaces MWyser,MKasper,NHeeb,
LEmmenegger,AUlrich,
HEgliandWScheidegger
InvestigationsintotheRemovalofAirbornePollutantsFromUnderground HJFourieandTJSheer 289
VentilatingAirinaDeepHotMine
Fires
TheComputationalModellingofConveyorBeltFiresinMineGalleries ISLowndes,SASilvester, 299
DGiddings,SPickeringand
AHassan
MonitoringandControlofVentilationinPolishCoalMines WDziurzynski,JRoszkowski, 309
JTobiczykandSWasilewski
SimulationoftheEffectsofInertisationofFiresonMineVentilation ADSGillies,AMWalaand 317
Systems HWWu
EffectsofOpenFireonVentilationinCoalMines RPSinghandSKRay 325
FirstMexicanCoalMineRecoveryAfterMineFire,EsmeraldaMine MASantillán 333
Spontaneous Combustion
UniqueExperienceofControllingActiveSpontaneousHeatinginthe NPrabhakarRaoand 339
WorkingBGPanelGoafatGDK8Incline,RG-IIArea—ACaseStudy BVeeraReddy
FundamentalStudiesforDetectingFireSourceofSpontaneous BLi,KUchinoandMInoue 345
CombustionUsingtheSelf-PotentialMethod—InSituMeasurementin
aCombustingCoalWastePile
DevelopmentofInhibitorstoReducetheSpontaneousHeating DCPanigrahi,GUdaybhanu, 349
SusceptibilityofIndianCoals MDYadavandRSSingh
Laboratory-ScaleAssessmentofHotSpotDevelopmentinBulkCoal BBBeamish 355
Self-Heating
TheApplicationofNumericalModellingtotheAssessmentofthe DHumphreys 361
Potentialfor,andDetectionof,SpontaneousCombustioninCoalMines
Monitoring and Control
OptimisingMineVentilationThroughtheUseofLife-CycleProduction SHardcastle,CKocsis, 373
Models YBissiriandGBaiden
Real-TimeAirflowMonitoringandControlWithintheMineProduction HWWuandADSGillies 383
System
MeasurementsandModellingofPressureSurgesinOrepasses EAMoss,TJSheer,HRose 391
andMDumka
ContinuousMonitoringofBarometricPressureinDeepMines WTrutwin,WMironowicz, 399
SWasilewskiandJKrawczyk
TheFutureMineCollaborativeResearchInitiative—MakingResearch MBiffi,JduPlessisand 411
Work WMarx
Case Studies II
StatutoryComplianceofSealingPlansandInformationRequiredby SVaccaneo 419
QueenslandIndustryRegulators
EffectsofVentilationLeakageinDeep,HotRoomandPillarOperations NSchophaus,SJBluhmand 431
RFunnell
ModellingoftheVentilationSystemofaDeepUraniumMine DCPanigrahi,RGuptaand 439
SCBhowmik
VentilationPlanningattheRedLakeMine KGWallaceJr,MTessier, 447
MPahkalaandLSletmoen
AVentilationSystemforLargeBlockCaveMines FCalizaya,TASutraand 457
MStephens
Poster Papers
MathematicalSimulationofThermalProcessesinUndergroundWorkings YAKhokholovandASKurilko 467
ofMinesLocatedintheCryoliticZone
TheImprovedMappingandAnalysisofMineClimateWithinUKDeep ISLowndes,ZYYang, 471
CoalMines SJoblingandCYates
AssessingNewAirflowRequirementsattheMeikleMine—ACasefor KRMutama 481
anAdditionalMainCentrifugalFanandtheInclusionofEvaporative
CoolingSprayChambersforAirflowQualityImprovement
AThree-DimensionalSimulationofMineVentilationUsingComputational HSiddique,MTuckand 489
FluidDynamics JNaser
QuantificationofVentilationAirMethaneandAlternativesforits MSrivastava,SHarpalaniand 493
Utilisation PKrauss
Spontaneous Combustion Workshop
NumericalModellingofCoalSpontaneousCombustionWithMoisture AArisoy 501
Included
NewTechnologiesUsedforthePreventionofSpontaneousCombustion SSimion,ITothandDCioclea 507
OccurrencesinCoalMines
EvaluationofArisingSpontaneousFireCentreTemperatureandTimeof AStruminskiand 511
CoalSelf-Ignition BMadeja-Struminska
CatastropheAnalysisofCoalOxidationProcessUnderLowTemperature FZhou,DWangandWLu 517
Performance and Acceptance Testing of Mine Refrigeration
Plants
1
D J Brake
ABSTRACT Most new underground mining projects in Australia now
provide some form of assessment of the expected thermal
Thereisanincreasingdemandforrefrigerationasminesprogressdeeper.
environment in the underground workings.
Minerefrigerationplantshavespecialrequirementsintermsoftheirduty
and application. There are no national or international standards The key drivers behind this increasing awareness of the
applicable for the testing of these plants. There have been numerous problems of heat and the increasing adoption of mine
examples of plants failing to meet their required nominal capacity, but refrigeration are:
with the plant owner being unable to enforce the design duty on the • Thedramatically increasedfocusonsafetyandhealthinthe
manufacturer, due to a failure to unambiguously specify testing or
Australianminingindustry.Mostminingcompaniesarenow
accepting criteria. This paper discusses some of the reasons for
performanceshortcomingsand describes a methodologyfor developing onthepublicrecordasstatingthatallsafety/healthincidents
and specifying performance criteria, when inviting design and/or arepreventablesothatincidents(egmoreminorinstancesof
constructiontenders,andamethodofperformanceandacceptancetesting heat illness) that would have been considered of no
once the plant has been built and commissioned. These guidelines importance in the past are now examined with a view to
encompass the full range of performance duties expected from a mine eliminating them.
plant, including stable operation at maximum and minimum plant
capacity,andunderthevariouscombinationsofextremesofhighandlow • Investigation reports (including Government Coroner’s
condensing and evaporating pressures. A description of a methodology reports) are now increasingly focussing on contributing
for developinga computer-based mine refrigerationplant modelis also factors to an incident and not just the direct causes. This is
presentedaspartoftheperformancetestingcriteria.Themethodologyis turningconsiderableattentiontotheworkplaceenvironment,
illustrated with reference to the actual performance and acceptance includingthermalconditions.Thedirectcauseofanincident
testing process used on the world’s largest bulk air cooler (R67) at the may be the worker taking a shortcut, but on further
Enterprise mine at Mount Isa, Australia. investigation, conditions were so hot that most reasonable
people would be looking to take a shortcut in that situation!
INTRODUCTION • Theadoptionbymanymininghousesofinternalstandardsto
Mining is a capital-intensive business. A substantial proportion provide consistency across their entire suite of operations.
of this capital is involved in fixed plant (winders, crushers, Thelargermininghousesarenolongerpreparedtoaccepta
surfaceventilationfans),whichareusuallypurpose-designedfor particular operation with a heat problem as being just the
aparticularmine.ThereisanincreasingtrendinAustraliatothe ‘black sheep’.
use of mine refrigeration plants. Key issues in the design of a • Difficulties of attracting and retaining experienced,
refrigeration strategy and the overall mining strategy for a mine competent workers and the desire to improve working
with refrigeration have been described elsewhere (Brake 2001a, conditions to improve retainment.
2001b). Table 1 shows the growth in mine refrigeration plants
• Thewidespreadadoptionofair-conditionedcabinsinmobile
over the past five years.
equipment and underground offices and cribrooms, which
has brought the concept of refrigerated workplaces to the
TABLE1 attention of workers and managers alike.
Australian mine refrigeration plants in 1999 and 2004. • The increasing depth of many Australian underground mines.
Australian mine refrigeration Additional Australian mine • The much greater diesel intensity (and therefore very hot
plants in 1999 refrigeration plants in 2004 spot heat loads) in underground operations, especially
Isa (35 MW) Stawell (2 MW) hardrock operations, through the use of much
higher-powered diesel plant (eg LHDs and trucks). These
Telfer (2 MW with upgrade Black Swan (2 MW
heat loads are difficult to treat as they are so mobile and
to 12 MW summer 04/05)
CSA (4 MW summer 04/05) often cover a large geographic area in the mine.
Granites (2 MW) • The reality of global warming (for whatever cause) and its
Rosebery (1 MW) impact on surface climate and concerns about further hot
summers.
Pajingo (1.2 MW)
Eloise This increase in refrigeration has led to widespread problems
with the specification of mine refrigeration plants, and growing
Mt Gordon/Gunpowder
concerns that mine operators are not getting the refrigeration
(under review for summer 04/05)
duties that they have paid for.
Moranbah North (3 MW)
Mine ventilation engineers are only now starting to come to
Central (1 MW) therealisationthatthenominal‘duty’ofarefrigerationplantwill
Crinum (0.6 MW) vary significantly with a variety of site-specific conditions,
including the amount of air being chilled, ambient WB
temperaturesforheatrejectionandthechilledairtemperature,to
name but a few. Often ‘nominal’ratings are based on Northern
1. FAusIMM, Principal Consultant, Mine Ventilation Australia, 12 Hemisphere climatic conditions and must be significantly
Flinders Parade, Sandgate Qld 4017. de-rated for Australian conditions. For example, an application
Email: [email protected] required two tonnes of ice per day and two one-tonne ice
Eighth International Mine Ventilation Congress Brisbane, QLD, 6 - 8 July 2005 3
D J BRAKE
FIG1 - Example of large and small surface bulk air cooler.
machines were investigated. However, the nominal ratings on Intheauthor’sexperience,therearetwocommonreasonswhy
these machines were based on 31°C and a supply water a refrigeration plant fails to meet the user’s requirements.
temperature of 15°C whereas the Australian conditions were
45°C and 25°C supply water. The rating under the true design Incorrect specification,selection or application
condition fell from 1 tonnes per day to 650 kg per day.
Many of the recent plants that have not met the user’s
It is therefore crucial for the client to obtain sound advice
expectations are ‘leased’or ‘hired’rather than purchased. They
regarding the design criteria for the plant. If these criteria are
unnecessarily onerous, then the plant will be over-sized and the are standardised plants (‘packaged chillers’) that could be used
client will be wasting money; if the criteria are however, below for mining applications, or any other temporary requirement for
requirements, then the plant will be under-sized, irrespective of chilledwater,orair(egwineries,abattoirs).Insomecases,these
any nominal rating on it. plants are shipped annually between the northern hemisphere
(forthenorthernsummer)andthesouthernhemispheresummer
In addition, there is a growing awareness about some of the
safety implications of refrigeration plants. in Australia. Not being designed for any specific climate or
industry, these plants are provided on the basis of meeting a
certain nominal refrigeration duty, for example, 1000 kW of
DEFINING PERFORMANCE PROBLEMS OR
cooling(kW(R)inthispapertodistinguishfromkWofelectrical
SHORTCOMINGS
power).Some key issueswill affect however,such a hired plant
Themostcommonminerefrigeration application inAustraliaat and may change the plant duty by as much as 30 per cent
present isthe useofa surface refrigeration (chilled water) plant (usually downwards).
tochillsurfaceairenmasse,beforeitentersanintakeshaftusing In this case, the plant fails to meet the user’s requirements
abulkaircooler(BAC).Inthiscontext,‘performanceproblems’ because the user does not understand the nature of a nominal
in such a plant can have a number of different dimensions. duty rating, nor how the plant will respond to the mine’s
Firstly,arefrigerationplantexistsasonecomponentwithinthe particular circumstances (application). This problem is
overall mine ventilation network (the overall system). The plant aggravated by the supplier, who fails to inform the user of the
canonlygeneratechilledairatitslocation;itcannotofitselfget issues involved and their implications. This problem is
thatchilledairtowhereitisrequiredunderground,andbecause fundamentallyoneoftheusersfailingtounderstandrefrigeration
it is a ‘passive’device, it can only chill the air that is induced plantspecificationsandthereforeselectingtheincorrectplantfor
through the BAC. There have been a few instances recently in the application.
Australia where mine refrigeration plants have been spectacular Recent examples of problems experienced in Australia
failures because the application was unsuitable. include:
Secondly, the exact nature of what the plant is required to do • plantspurchasedonthebasisofanominaldutybutwhenthe
(the plant process) needs to be established (the duty and plant is installed, the duty is unachievable because the
specification).Inpractice,thismeansensuringtheplantmustbe nominal duty condition is a long way from the mine’s
abletooperateoverthefullrangeofambientconditions(surface required duty condition and plant output can be very
WB) and over the full range of expected airflows through the sensitive to duty;
BAC. • plants requiring excessive amounts of fresh water for
Thirdly, the plant must operate with the highest possible
operation,sothatoperatorsareunwittinglyforcedtorunthe
uptime (plant availability), providing the benefits exceed the plant atanoutputwellbelowthenominal value onwhichit
costs. In practice, this means ensuring the plant: was supplied to them;
• has some ‘margin’(surplus capacity) in its design; • plants sold with identical nominal ratings but one drew
• can operate with some components off-line for maintenance 530 kW at duty and the other drew 425 kW due to a more
(even if the remaining plant is at reduced capacity); efficient design at the mine’s duty condition; and
• is rarely required to be taken entirely off-line (except when • plants purchased with components that are difficult to
not needed in winter); and maintain on site or relatively unsuitable to site conditions
• where it must be taken entirely off-line, that these outages (dust or blasting fumes, etc) resulting in poor (sometimes
very poor) uptime during critical summer periods.
are short in duration.
4 Brisbane, QLD, 6 - 8 July 2005 Eighth International Mine Ventilation Congress
PERFORMANCE AND ACCEPTANCE TESTING OF MINE REFRIGERATION PLANTS
Failure to meet its design duty • The process of commissioning needs to demonstrate
acceptable operation in a number of areas:
Even if a plant has been properly selected according to the
applicationinwhichitwillbeused,thereisstillthepotentialfor • safety – tests that need to be done prior to further work
the plant to not meet its required duty. This problem is on these systems;
fundamentally one of the manufacturer or supplier failing to • process – tests to confirm that the process design intent
provide a plant that meets the specified duty.
has been achieved;
• performance– tests to confirm capacity, flow, etc; and
PLANT TESTING
• maintenance and operating issues – tests to confirm the
Thereareatleasttwoimportantreasonstoperformancetestany
plant can be operated and maintained within the given
plant, including a mine refrigeration plant.
constraints.
During all these stages, punch listing (careful checking for
Acceptance testing
problems and defects and listing these for rectification) is
The performance test is conducted to determine whether the undertaken.
planthasmetitswarranted duty.Itneedstobeconducted when
theplantisfirstinstalled.Theprincipalpurposeistoensurethe
PRACTICAL COMPLETION,PERFORMANCE
user has obtained the value that has been promised. In a
WARRANTY,LIQUIDATED DAMAGES AND CARE,
well-designed contract, a performance guarantee with a
performance-related financial clause will be linked to an CUSTODY AND CONTROL
acceptance test that is mutually agreeable to the vendor and the
Thestandardformofcontractusedformostconstructionworkin
purchaser alike.
Australia is AS2124.This is a contract that has some important
features in regards to commissioning and performance testing:
Baseline benchmarking
• Practical completion (PC): is the point at which the plant
A second reason to conduct a performance test when a plant is should run unattended and in a stable fashion. At practical
first installed is for the purpose of assessing the magnitude and completion, care, custody and control usually passes from
nature of plant deterioration with time. For example, take the the vendor to the client. The client therefore takes
situation where a refrigeration plant has been installed for three responsibility for operating and maintaining the plant after
years and it is not meeting the user’s requirements. Is this ‘PC’isachieved.Iftheplant‘burnstotheground’beforePC,
because the user’s requirements have become more onerous or then it is the vendors responsibility, but it would be the
because the plant performance has deteriorated? A performance
client’s responsibility after PC. In addition, the client must
test is conducted and this shows that the performance is below
paythevendoranyremainingprogresspaymentsoncePCis
specification. Without an initial baseline test three years ago
achieved. The term ‘practical completion’ is used because
when the plant was installed, how can it be determined if this
noteverydetailoftheplantmustbeoperationalatthispoint.
performance shortfall is due to a deterioration over the three
Minor shortcomings that do not impact on the fundamental
yearssincecommissioning,orwhetheritexistedfromtheinitial
purposeoftheplant(itemsinthepunchlist)wouldnotstop
handoverperiod?Iftheplanthasdeteriorated,whatpart(s)ofthe
PC being achieved.
plant is causing this? Is this deterioration due to poor
maintenanceorduetoapre-disposingconditionordesignfailure • It is acceptable for the contract to provide for liquidated
of some sort? damages(orperhapsaperformancebond)whichisapenalty
(orbonus)thatappliesiftheplantdoesnot(ordoes)meetits
THE LINK BETWEEN COMMISSIONING AND nominated performance or other nominated acceptance
criteria. One large refrigeration plant project in Australia
PERFORMANCE TESTING
provided for the client to ‘hold back’ five per cent of the
Performancetestingcanbeconductedtoolate,butitcanalsobe contract value until the plant was successful in meeting its
conducted too early. Once a plant has been physically warranty as established by an agreed performance and
constructed, a carefully planned process is required to get the acceptance test.
plant fully operational and tested. This process consists of the • It is important that the warranty be a warranty of the plant
following steps: process performance, and not just a warranty on individual
• Pre-commissioning: a process of checking the correct components.Itisquitepossiblethataplantcanhavemostor
operationofindividualplantcomponentsbeforetheyarerun allofitskeycomponentsproperlysized,butstillbeunableto
asaunit.Forexample,vesselsandpipingarepressuretested meet its overall design duty due to poor process design.
with air or nitrogen to check for leaks, electric motors are
‘bumped’ (energised briefly) to ensure they spin in the TIME WINDOW FOR PERFORMANCE TESTING
correct direction of rotation.
It is important that a refrigeration plant is tested at or near full
• Drycommissioning:theprocessofrunningvariousgroupsof
load. This means that the ambient temperatures need to be at
components together before any fluids (water or refrigerant)
summer maximum values. It also means that the ‘load’ on the
are introduced into them. For example, the operation of
plant needs to be near its maximum. Plant testing therefore
valves in a water circuit can be checked for correct
normally needs to be undertaken in summer. Often, the plant’s
sequencing and interlocks; emergency stops can be checked
construction schedule is such that the plant is scheduled to be
to ensure they stop all equipment in a circuit.
available ‘just in time’before summer starts. If the construction
• Wet commissioning: the process of commissioning systems is delayed however, then the plant may be finished towards the
with fluids in them. For example, water circuits will be end of summer, making proper performance difficult or
charged with water and then tested under a range of impossible to achieve during that summer. In addition, if the
conditions to ensure they operate safely. Start-up and plantisinitiallydeliberatelyoversizedtocopewithafuturemine
stopping (including simulated power failure or emergency expansion or ventilation connections, then the plant may not be
stops) are especially important to examine the potential for able to be fully loaded, when initially installed.
water hammer.
Eighth International Mine Ventilation Congress Brisbane, QLD, 6 - 8 July 2005 5