US 2020/0049007 A1 · Optimized Mine Ventilation System

Abstract

The optimized mine ventilation system of this invention supplements mine ventilation basic control systems by establishing a dynamic ventilation demand as a function of real-time tracking of machinery and/or personnel location and where this demand is optimally distributed in the work zones via the mine ventilation network and where the energy required to ventilate is minimized while totally satisfying the demand for each work zones. The optimized mine ventilation system operates on the basis of a predictive dynamic simulation model of the mine ventilation network along with emulated control equipment such as fans and air flow regulators. The model always reaches an air mass flow balance where the pressure and density is preferably compensated for depth and accounts for the natural ventilation pressure flows due to temperature differences. Model setpoints are checked for safety bounds and sent to real physical control equipment via the basic control system.

Claims17

Dependent claims

A method of optimizing mine ventilation in an underground mine, said underground mine having airflow control equipment and a plurality of defined mine areas, said airflow control equipment comprising a plurality of surface fans, a plurality of booster fans, and a plurality of airflow regulators, the method comprising:

monitoring, in real-time, the defined mine areas to detect machinery and personnel present inside said defined mine areas;
determining, in real-time, a quantity of ventilation required for the defined mine areas as a function of the machinery and the personnel present in the defined mine areas;
and
automatically adjusted, based on the determining, at least one of a speed of said plurality of surface fans, a speed of one or more of the booster fans, and an opening position of said airflow regulators to provide the determined quantity of ventilation to the defined mine areas in real-time.

1 more element

A system for optimizing ventilation in an underground mine, said underground mine having airflow control equipment and a plurality of defined mine areas, said airflow control equipment comprising a plurality of surface fans, a plurality of booster fans, and a plurality of airflow regulators, the system comprising:

a controlling unit configured to be in communication with said plurality of surface fans, said plurality of booster fans, and said airflow regulators to control a speed of said plurality of surface fans, a speed of said plurality of booster fans, and an opening position of said airflow regulators;
a simulating unit configured to:
calculate an air flow rate and an air pressure for air in the defined mine areas as a function of density and temperature variation, which is a function of depth, while accounting for natural ventilation pressure flows;
correlate real-time physical air flow measurements to the calculated air flow rates in real-time;
and
automatically calibrate, in real-time, the calculated air flow to account for discrepancies in the correlating;
a calculating unit for automatically calculating a quantity of ventilation required for each of the defined mine areas ion real-time as a function of machinery and personnel present in each of the defined mine areas and the calculated air flow that is calibrated in real-time;
and
an optimizing unit configured to optimize air flow distribution and energy consumed by the plurality of surface fans and the plurality of booster fans

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Optimized Mine Ventilation System

Life of this patent

Optimized Mine Ventilation System

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims17