VENTILATION
Integration of this type has already been
proven in the field.
At Boliden’s Kankberg mine, in Sweden,
Mobilaris’ MMI partnered with ABB and the
existing 800xA control system in place at the
mine, on top of ABB’s own SmartVentilation
system, to save 54% of ventilation energy and
21% of air heating energy in its first year after
installation.
Mobilaris and Epiroc believe the new MMI-
Serpent integration could bring even greater
benefits.
“The integration gives the opportunity to
monitor the ventilation system, itself, by
monitoring vibration levels in the fan for
predictive maintenance and monitoring the air
flow via pressure sensors in the fans,” the
companies said.
This monitoring could detect broken tubes, for
example, which can reduce energy consumption
further. “With correctly installed tubes, the
ventilation air will come to the right place
without unnecessary losses on the way,” they
said.
Commenting on the energy savings that could
come from the integration, Epiroc and Mobilaris
said: “In general, the use cases and capabilities
that can be supported depend on the depth of
the integration between the systems.”
This could involve a simple “presence-based
installation” at one of end – proving immediate
benefits – to deep integration at the other
involving “sensor data, predicting airflow needs
based on scheduling and movement patterns for
the most advanced cases”, the companies said.
Sourcing and allocating the appropriate
ventilation for a battery-electric machine in
operation at an underground mine would be
representative of more “advanced integration”,
Epiroc and Mobilaris said.
“This is where the rule-based VoD in MMI
comes in to play. If the machine entering the geo
fence is battery-powered, which will be known by
Mobilaris MMI, the system will tell the
ventilation system that less air is needed
compared to a diesel-powered machine entering
the geo fence.”
Automation
Just as battery-electric vehicles are changing the
ventilation dynamic, so too is automation.
If machines are operated tele-remotely, from
surface or autonomously, the need to ventilate
for an optimal worker environment decreases in
line with the reduction in personnel working
underground. Also, unmanned machines can re-
enter a blasted area quicker than they would
have in a manned-operator environment.
The complication comes with needing to keep
temperatures at a level where it does not affect
the operation of the equipment, and preparing
for a service technician to enter a working area
when an
autonomous/tele-
remote machine has a
problem.
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16 International Mining | JULY 2019
This is where the
combination of
automation and VoD can
aid mine ventilation,
with the
communications and
sensor infrastructure
that comes with
installing such solutions
enabling efficient and
critical ventilation
distribution.
As the mines of the
future will be
digitalised, automated
and hyper-connected,
companies will have
unprecedented visibility
into, and control over,
every facet of their
operations, including
ventilation, according to
Jan Nyqvist, ABB
Product Manager,
Automation,
Underground Mining.
This then places the onus on mining
companies to ensure personnel operate in a safe
working environment with access to clean air
when and where they need it, Nyqvist said.
Envisaging mines free from CO 2 , ABB has
developed the ABB Ability™ Ventilation
Optimizer, a complete ventilation control solution
with VoD functionality.
“There is no need to ventilate the entire mine
because production may only be concentrated in,
say, 20% of the facility at any one time,”
explained Nyqvist. “By controlling mine
ventilation in this way, annual energy savings of
up to 50% are possible.”
Part of the ABB Ability package of digital
solutions, the modular system uses sensors in
the mine that transmit real-time information on
toxic gases such as nitrogen dioxide emissions
from diesel vehicles and blasting, CO 2 and
methane, as well as dust and humidity levels, for
analysis.
The Ventilation Optimizer system is divided
into three “implementation levels” offering
degrees of operational control over the mine’s
intake and exhaust fans.
Level one offers centralised supervision and
control of equipment from ABB Ability System
800xA Operator workplaces. “Personnel, for
example, do not have to venture many kilometres
underground in order to start a fan,” Nyqvist
says.
Level two uses VoD to control equipment
according to actual ventilation demands
dynamically calculated from mine production
schedules and events, and event equipment
status and location.
Level 3 uses sensor feedback and advanced
multivariable control technology to perform
mine-wide control, and optimise air flow and
quality, while reducing energy consumption in
real-time.
“As part of level 3, we apply a more model-
based algorithm to control all the fans
underground, using a patented optimiser method
to create a digital model of the ventilation
system that is then able to control all fans in an
optimised way,” Nyqvist said. “In the future, we
hope to develop low-cost IoT sensors for fire
scenarios or toxic source detection that will make
the system even smarter.”
In addition to offering a safe working
environment and significant annual energy
savings, ABB Ability Ventilation Optimizer
extends the lifetime of ventilation systems by
optimising legacy infrastructure, the company
says.
Complete portfolio
It has been a big few years for Howden with
acquisitions across its ventilation platform and,
more recently, a corporate transaction that has