The development and integrated simulation of a variable water flow energy saving strategy for deep-mine cooling systems

Plessis, Gideon Edgar Du; Arndt, Deon C.; Mathews, E.H.

doi:10.1016/j.seta.2015.03.002

Cited by 21 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 19 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Many cooling techniques were applied for solving the high geothermal environment problem (Plessis et al, 2015;Feng et al, 2018;Crawford et al, 2019). These cooling techniques were basically classified into three types: ventilation, natural cooling, and manual refrigeration.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Manual refrigeration was the most widely used method (Van der Walt and De Kock, 1984;Wilson, 2008;du Plessis et al, 2013). However, the power consumption of mining cooling systems was up to 25% of the total mining power consumption (Plessis et al, 2015), and the cooling cost of manual refrigeration increased with the depth of the mine (Trapania et al, 2016). Considering the mining cooling cost, the upper mining depth limit is located at approximately 3000 m. The evolution of deep mine cooling requires breakthroughs in the cooling methods that differ from ordinary cooling methods and combine with the mining characteristics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Numerical Investigation of Heat Transfer and Phase Change Characteristics of Cold Load and Storage Functional CPB in Deep Mine

Wang

Lyu

et al. 2020

Front. Earth Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

As high mine-cooling costs have become a restriction for deep mining, a new cooling method has been proposed. In the area of filling mining, the CPB (cemented paste backfill) was given the cooling function by mixing it with phase change material (PCM). In deep mines, the PCM (e.g., ice particles) absorb heat and change phases to cool the surrounding environment. A deep-mine-cooling mode based on the new CPB and upward sublevel filling method was designed, and the characteristics of the phase change were analyzed by numerical simulation. From the simulation results of the cooling period, this cooling method was effective during the whole stopes mining period. The CLS (cold load and storage) CPB mass concentration and the PCM initial proportion are the important factors controlling the cooling effect. It is concluded that the phase change duration decreased with the increasing mass concentration, while it increased with the increasing initial proportion of ice to water. Note that the thickness of CLSfunctional CPB should be as small as possible to ensure the cold release rate. This study provides a theoretical foundation of heat transfer for the design and implementation of deep mine cooling by applying CLS-functional CPB. Keywords: mine cooling, cold load and storage, mass concentration, proportion of ice to water, heat transfer HIGHLIGHTS -The phase change of CLS functional CPB in deep mines was investigated numerically. -The heat conduction model compound with hydration-porous-enthalpy model was applied. -The phase change and heat transfer law of CLS functional CPB was investigated. -The main influencing factors were analyzed and suggestions for engineering were presented.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical Investigation of Heat Transfer and Phase Change Characteristics of Cold Load and Storage Functional CPB in Deep Mine

Wang

Lyu

et al. 2020

Front. Earth Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As mining depths have increased, (the current depth is over 3 km [6], which is called ultradeep mining), increases in VRT and air self-compression heat have made the mining environment very unfavorable, which has led to a significant increase in mining cost (in deep mines, the cost of air conditioning cooling systems accounts for approximately 1/4 of the total energy consumption of the mine [7,8]). Generally, air ventilation is insufficient to remove the heat generated by the deep surrounding rock, mining equipment and blasting (the outdoor temperature in summer in southern China can exceed 308 K).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study of the Influence of Ventilation Pipeline Setting on Cooling Effects in High-Temperature Mines

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The high-temperature environment is a major factor that affects deep mining. Cooling has become a major expense, accounting for up to 25% of the total energy consumption of such mines. To address methods of cooling and the cooling cost, this paper studies the influence of the ventilation duct layout on the cooling effect. Six models were created in ICEM-CFD (3D modeling software), and the influence of cold airflow diffusion on the temperature of the mine environment was numerically simulated using ANSYS Fluent. Under the condition of the same ventilation volume, two models utilizing single pipe and double pipe scenarios were established, and six points were selected as the pipeline suspension position, forming six ventilation duct models. The cooling effect of each model was evaluated by analyzing the average temperature of the roadway section, the three-dimensional distribution of the roadway temperature and the velocity streamline of the whole roadway. The results show that the double-tube model has greater advantages than the single-tube model does, due to its superior local temperature, average temperature of the cross-section, range below 303 K, temperature uniformity and local wind speed. Among the models, model 4 (diameter of 0.5 m, 1.9 m away from the bottom of the roadway and 2.4 m away from the center of the circle) is the best pipeline layout scheme for comprehensive temperature values, roadway temperature uniformity and other factors. The average temperature is 299.3 K within 8 m from the mining face, which is 1.66 K lower than that of the single tube model. This configuration will increase the comfort of the mining environment and reduce cooling costs. These results can provide a reference for ventilation duct layouts of roadways in high temperature mines.

show abstract

“…Cooling systems, in particular mine cooling systems, are large energy consumers. Mine cooling systems consume in the region of 25% of a typical deep level mine's total energy consumption [1,2]. Many scenarios have been investigated and some measures were implemented to reduce mine energy consumption.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Numerous cooling system component modelling approaches can be found in literature [2,. However, none were found for mine cooling applications which included the modelling of an entire system simultaneously.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated energy simulation of a deep level mine cooling system through a combination of forward and first-principle models applied to system-side parameters

Bornman

Dirker

Arndt³

et al. 2017

Applied Thermal Engineering

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Highlights• Proposition of an integrated mine cooling system energy modelling method.• The model is be calibrated with system measured or manufacturer data.• Major energy consuming devices include chillers, cooling towers, pumps and fans.• Model parameter identification achieved RMSRE values between 0.0114 and 0.0651.• An overall absolute average error between 2.5% and 3.5% was obtained. 2 AbstractMine cooling systems typically account for around 25% of the total electrical energy consumption of deep level mines. Numerous energy saving strategies have been implemented; with various levels of success. Most of the previously implemented strategies involved load shifting, energy efficiency and demand reduction. To achieve this, some levels of control are often introduced to control chilled water consumption, water and air mass flow rates as well as scheduling cooling system operation in order to shift the load primarily to offpeak periods.To support and sustain further reduction of energy consumption and optimisation of savings, a simulation model of the integrated cooling system represented by smooth and continuous equations is needed to assist the optimisation computation. This study focused on developing such an integrated mine cooling system simulation model to mimic the thermal hydraulic behaviour along with the energy consumption of the complete mine cooling system. This was achieved by coupling various models representing the major cooling system components such as chillers, cooling towers, pumps and fans together. Although various cooling system energy simulations were considered before, very few quantify the simulation accuracy on a component basis; furthermore, only limited cases were found where the entire system was considered. For these cases not all components were always based on explicit models which would eliminate the requirement for iterative computation which deter optimisation applications.The simulation model was used to predict the energy consumption of the integrated cooling system of a deep level gold mine in South Africa. The simulation model obtained an average error when compared to the mine's system data of 3.5% for a selected dataset and 2.5% for 3 another dataset one month later. The successful energy simulation of an integrated mine cooling system would allow for a holistic view on the total power consumption as one parameter or any combination of parameters of the system changes. NomenclatureA area [m²] BAC bulk air cooler C local loss coefficient specific heat capacity [J/kg K] CC cooling capacity [W] CCT condenser cooling tower COP coefficient of performance D h hydraulic diameter [m] f friction factor enthalpy [J/kg] HVAC heating ventilation and air conditioning k flow admittance [m 4 ] L length [m] ̇ mass flow rate [kg/s] MIN minimum N dataset length P pressure [Pa] PCT pre-cooling tower ̇ cooling [W] R correlation coefficient RH relative humidity RMSRE root mean square of relative error 4 SCADA supervisory control and data acquisition system temperature [ºC] V velocity [m/s] ̇ p...

show abstract

The development and integrated simulation of a variable water flow energy saving strategy for deep-mine cooling systems

Cited by 21 publications

References 19 publications

Numerical Investigation of Heat Transfer and Phase Change Characteristics of Cold Load and Storage Functional CPB in Deep Mine

Numerical Investigation of Heat Transfer and Phase Change Characteristics of Cold Load and Storage Functional CPB in Deep Mine

Study of the Influence of Ventilation Pipeline Setting on Cooling Effects in High-Temperature Mines

Integrated energy simulation of a deep level mine cooling system through a combination of forward and first-principle models applied to system-side parameters

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About