VENTILATION
A breath of fresh air
Ventilation systems have become a lot more elaborate in the
last few decades, providing monitoring, cooling and
automated functions to allow for optimal clean air distribution.
As battery-electric vehicles and machine automation start to
impact the underground environment, Dan Gleeson spoke to
several of the major solution providers to find out how they are
reacting to this evolution
he need to go deeper in search of ore is
causing mining companies to reconsider
the use of innovative and digitally-
enhanced technologies to look for profitable
ways to develop new mining horizons.
With increasing depth comes increasing
complexity, whether that is water ingress, heat,
or exposure to harmful gases. This makes
having a robust, efficient and cost effective
ventilation system integral.
The ability to electrify underground mining
equipment on a large scale has helped alleviate
some of the cost and energy pressure put on
miners plunging deeper underground. For
instance, the use of electric vehicles at
Glencore’s Onaping Depth project, in Sudbury,
Canada, which is set to reach 2,600 m below
surface, is expected to reduce its energy usage
by 44% for ventilation systems and by 30% for
cooling equipment, compared with an
equivalent diesel-fuelled operation.
This project would not stack up financially if
using conventional diesel equipment, a point
T
12 International Mining | JULY 2019
Michael Gribbons, Vice President – Sales and
Marketing at Maestro Digital Mine, picked up
on.
ABB is in the process of installing what will be
one of the largest ventilation systems in the
world at state-owned company Codelco’s
Chuquicamata copper mine, in Chile
“Diesel engines are far less efficient than
electric engines and typically waste 60-70% of
energy in the form of heat,” he told IM. “Diesel
also requires additional ventilation
requirements to clear the continuous emissions
from the tail pipe.”
While the increasing uptake of battery- and
tethered-electric equipment in the mining space
will ease the burden placed on ventilation
Maestro Digital Mine’s Vigilante AQS is a third-generation underground mine air quality monitoring
station designed with an improved communication platform