CANADIAN TECHNOLOGY when machines will hit their respective triggers . This strategy Cascadia Scientific says has resulted in an average maintenance extension of 14 %, reduced consumable costs , equipment health gains , and increased machine availability .
Howden addresses Canada ’ s mine heating NO 2 conundrum
In Canada and some other countries with Arctic
mines like Russia , as well as some high-altitude mines , the cold ambient surface temperatures require mines to use air heating . It is not for underground comfort – it is primarily to prevent shaft freeze up including utilities such as water that are entering the mine via the shaft . This is in contrast to cooling deep mines which is done for both operator comfort and of course safety . Howden supplies both heating and cooling solutions – and a number of mines actually require both – heating for the upper parts of the shaft and cooling for the deep levels .
Peter Terkovics is Sales Director at Howden company ACI based in Concord , Ontario and is a mechanical engineer with decades of experience in mine heating , cooling and ventilation . He told IM : “ Mines are heated in a multitude of ways , one of which is direct firing where burners are mounted within the air stream that is being directed underground . In most Canadian mines that are accessible by road , the fuel used for mine air heating tends to be either propane or natural gas due to its ease of transport , ( pipeline where available or road ), and their relatively clean burning properties . Diesel or oil firing is used mainly in parts of Arctic Canada that are not road accessible as well as in Russia .”
He adds : “ Another reason besides transportation issues associated with delivering fuel to site that results in diesel or fuel oil being used is that it is being transported to these sites in any case to service the underground mobile fleet , boilers , generators etc . But as diesel burners do not burn very clean they are indirectly fired , whereby the products of combustion enter a heat exchanger that transfers heat into the airstream entering the mine , before the products of combustion ( exhaust gases ) are expelled via a stack . Another method of heating mine air includes the implementation of electric elements , however , this is limited by the cost of power local to the mine . Finally , there is thermal heat recovery , taking waste heat from a boiler or compressors for example and passing it through a heat exchanger that is mounted in the mine air stream . Even hot water resulting from natural , underground geothermal heat transfer can be brought to the surface for shaft heating .”
A specific regulation-related issue has arisen in several Canadian provinces with regard to mine heating and ultra low emissions levels associated with direct firing – the main heating
New NO 2 emission limits have created a new challenge for mines with direct fired heating systems , but Howden offers a solution
method used in North America due to its high efficiency and the availability of natural gas and propane . In mining and in relation to direct fired mine air heating , CO is the gas traditionally regulated and closely monitored , with < 5 ppm as a limit set by NC and CSA . Terkovics adds : “ NO 2 specifically has not been flagged up as an issue . It is one of the constituents of NOX and has come up in suggested limits set by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists ( ACGIH ) and has started to show up into legislation related to exposure limits in mines – they require an extremely low NO 2 limit which is being adopted in Manitoba , BC , Nova Scotia and Newfoundland & Labrador . NO 2 in small amounts is more of an airways irritant and only affects
regulations restrict or limit access to the face for your safety . View the face from a magnified camera image , and as one of our remote bolter camera clients said , “ We can see the face better on the monitor from 200 feet back than we can from the cab of the bolter .”
Provix has portable and permanent jumbo cameras deployed in the Sudbury mining camp and Remote Bolting Video systems in Red Lake and the NWT . Our multi-camera drill positioning system is supplied to International mining companies through one of the larger underground equipment companies .
Provix builds custom video systems for any rugged mining application . On-Time , On-Budget , and they work . Call or email us to discuss any application .
www . provix . net | sales @ provix . net | + 1 ( 888 ) 434-0253
APRIL 2021 | International Mining 37