MINE VENTILATION
Performance on Demand ( PoD )
The same mines that are looking for optimal mine ventilation solutions would do well to consider the concept MINETEK is pushing .
MINETEK explained : “ The contemporary approach to delivering on-demand air supply in recent times has been to regulate airflow through complex and expensive infrastructure . The solution has been the application of variable speed drives ( VSDs ), variable frequency drives ( VFDs ), or variable voltage variable frequency drives ( VVVFDs ) – which control power to the ventilation system , enabling air flow to be ramped up or down based on demand .”
VSDs , VFDs and VVVFDs are , by their very nature , costly solutions , according to MINETEK . They come with infrastructure and supporting control software that can cost anything from tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars to install and run .
“ As expensive as they are , they are equally fragile , requiring dedicated air-conditioned rooms and custom cabling for operation ,” it said . “ While the benefits of VoD via the use of VSDs seem apparent , their use now almost seems illogical in the harshest of underground environments .”
MINETEK says it has devised an alternative way to optimise air circuits underground without the use of VSDs with its Performance on Demand ( PoD ) solution .
Able to be manually or autonomously controlled , the mechanically driven solution delivers the required flexibility for operators by tuning the dynamics of the air flow over the system ’ s impellers .
“ By mechanically controlling the flow of air over the impellers – not the supply of power to the fan – power consumption is optimised and can be maintained at a significantly lower level ,” MINETEK claims .
This has seen the company , in some instances , halve power consumption costs compared with traditional VSD-backed VoD systems , all while enabling operators to maintain flexibility in line with production and scheduling requirements .
Evan Redman , Strategic Marketing Manager for MINETEK , told IM : “ The Minetek fan system provides a 50 % reduction in power consumption due to the flexibility of power / performance / pressure on demand , particularly in the ability to provide low air flow at high pressure , which is something the VSD control option cannot deliver .”
By driving down operational costs and energy consumption , miners can yield better environmental outcomes too .
Redman says MINETEK is the only company in the secondary fan market offering VoD via a mechanically driven solution involving the system ’ s impellers . The PoD system works using RFID tags , among other technologies , to target air delivery based on people and vehicle movements .
The company added : “ By removing the need for VSDs , mines can use all available power without risk of fans stalling or creating harmonic imbalance . This flexibility in control and application offers true agility by lowering power consumption and costs , and allows faster reentries following blasting activity .”
MINETEK can point towards PoD references from Aeris Resources , Gold Fields , OZ Minerals , Barminco and Glencore . These companies are also familiar with its compact and robust singlespeed fans that , again , have been proven to reduce power consumption costs by as much as 50 %, MINETEK claims .
“ By virtue of their smaller size , MINETEK fans can be easily installed in a range of orientations and tight underground locations ,” it said . “ This agility and responsiveness enables operators to adapt to changing conditions , while reducing the potential for manual handling safety impacts .”
Maintenance that makes sense
Reliable air flow is critical in deep mining operations for the removal of hazardous gases , the cooling of equipment and distribution of clean air , NYB says .
Thanks to recent innovations in remote monitoring , the equipment involved in the ventilation space – primary and secondary fans – is lasting longer , giving mining operations the productivity and reliability boost they require to