A Comparative Study on Ventilation Efficiency in Dead Spaces

G. Arpa
Mining Engineering Department, PNG University of Technology, Papua New Guinea

K. Sasaki, A. Widiatmojo & Y. Sugai

Department of Earth Resources Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Kyushu University, Japan

N. P. Widodo
Department of Mining and Petroleum Engineering, Institute of Technology, Bandung, Indonesia

ABSTRACT: Studies on airflow through a mine ventilation network using tracer gas have revealed that quality of
air is affected by the presence of dead spaces along the mine airways. To further study the effect of dead spaces
on quality of air in dead space, studies were conducted in both laboratory model and underground mine
measurement at the Pongkor underground mine in Indonesia. Dead spaces of varying L/W, (L=Length of dead
space from entrance to end of dead space, W= width of dead space opening) ratio with constant W and increasing
L were constructed on the shrinkage stope model. Tracer gas was released inside the end of dead space and the
gas concentration against elapsed time was measured at the entrance of the dead space for the various L/W ratios.
The mine measurement involves releasing tracer gas in the dead space and measuring the concentration against
elapsed time at the entrance of the opening. The two mine measurements include an open cripp room and an open
stope. The mine stope was ventilated by a 22 kW auxiliary fan. The air exchange rate, N obtained from the
gradient of decay curve is, N = 5.1 h-1 and the effective ventilation flow was evaluated as 20% of the fan flow
rate. Airflow is affected by the stope geometry. An air exchange rate, N = 3.5 h-1 was obtained for the mine crip
room. Unlike the stope, the crib room is ventilated by circulated flow created by the turbulent separation by the
dead space opening. Further more, based on the measurement results, the ventilation rate or air exchange rate of
dead space can be given as, N = 0.018(Um/L), where, Um is the average velocity of the main drive way. Based on
the laboratory model, an empirical equation is given has N = 0.01Um/L.

1 Introduction
Despite advances in research to improve underground mine
air quality and quantity, there is no clear definition to
determine the quality of mine air. There are numerous
literatures and research on mine ventilation efficiency.
McPherson, (1993) defines ventilation efficiency as air that
is usefully employed as the sum of airflows reaching the
working faces and those used to ventilate equipment such
as electrical gear, pumps or battery charging stations.
Hartman (1997) defines ventilation efficiency as usefully
employed ventilation air to be the sum of air at the last
open crosscut and belt air. Generally, these literatures
discuss about ventilation efficiency as the ratio of airflow
usefully employed to the total airflow. However all of
these researches primarily discuss on mine ventilation
volumetric efficiency rather then the qualitative efficiency
in terms of air quality, dilution, air exchange efficiency and
age of air.
Widodo et al (2007) and Arpa et al (2008) conducted mine
measurement on airflow through a mine ventilation
network, using tracer gas and have discovered that quality
of air is greatly affected by the presence of dead spaces
along the mine airways. Dead spaces include open stopes,
dead end drives, underground storage and stations,
development headings and so on. Arpa et al (2008)
conducted numerical simulations to obtain a best matching
with measured concentration time curve and discovered the
that presence of these dead spaces greatly affect the quality
mine air, by increasing the residence time, as well as
recirculation of air in the dead spaces along the airways.
Based on the literatures reviewed above and the absence of
appropriate literatures on calculating the qualitative
ventilation efficiency for mine ventilation applications, in
terms of air exchange efficiency and the age of air, in this
study an attempt is made to relate calculations and
analytical methods used for building and room ventilation
to underground mine ventilation. The initial phase is
derived from single room ventilation of a building, which
represents ventilation in dead spaces in underground mine
air ways.

SF6 conc (ppm)
Simulated
Measured
Time
Dead space
z W
H RC V
H
L 3.1 Measurement procedure
Uo W qi ,
Q y
x CO2
Figure 1. Parameters of dead space ventilation.
2 Theory and Analytical Method
The theoretical, analytical and measurement methods of
studying airflow in buildings has been described in detail
by Sandberg & Sjoberg (1983) and Breum (1988) using
Tracer gas technique as the most commonly used method
in all the studies. Telbany et al. (1985) conducted
experiment to study flow between a cavity and external air
stream based on single-sided ventilation. Sasaki et al.
(1995) conducted experimental study on single-sided
ventilation characteristics in rectangular spaces with
various width, height and length opening ratio, and
employed tracer gas technique to study the relationship
between different shapes, and their effect on ventilation
efficiency and air exchange rate.
In this research, the concept of analyzing the age of air by
room ventilation is considered. The basic analysis is based
on studying the decay of the concentration time curve, and
determining the air exchange rate, and air exchange rate
efficiency based of the following parameters, as seen in
figure 1.
3 Underground Mine Measurement
The underground mine measurement was conducted at the
Pongkor Gold mine, PT Aneka Tambang, Tbk, located in
West Java province, Indonesia. It is about 110km south-
west from the capital city of Indonesia, Jakarta. Among
several mine zones in Pongkor mine, Ciurug area is the
most modern in mining system. The mining methods used
in Ciurug is cut-and-fill over hand stoping, which is
worked on 8m-vein width in average, and each level is
connected with a ramp which also serves as transportation
drive and ventilation routes. Figure 2 shows the sectional
view of the Ciurug mine and the ventilation lay out.
Measurements for the scope of this research, was
conducted on a selected open stope, and a crib room.
CURB
1
700
m L- 700
P CENTRAL
SOUTH
BLOCK
BLOCK-1
Sill Drift L-600
600
m
SOUTH RAMP
RC IV
RC IIA
500
m
Figure 2. Ciurug mine and ventilation layout
In order to study the effect of dead spaces on the quality of
fresh air, two testing arrangements were selected which
represent the dead space that would normally exists in a
typical underground mining operation. The first test was
conducted in an over-hand open stope. The stope has been
mucked out and ready for the next phase of drilling. The
open stope is about 12m in length, 6m wide and 8m high.
The schematic of the stope, tracer gas release and
measurement point are as shown in figure 3. Figure 3(a)
shows the stope lay out, tracer gas release point and the
tracer gas monitoring point. Sulfur hexafluoride (SF 6) was
used as a tracer gas. SF6 was released by pulsed injection
by breaking SF6 balloons at the in take of the auxiliary fan
located about 7m upstream. The SF6 goes through the fan,
through the ventilation bag and is delivered at the end of
the stope, as shown in figure 3(a). SF6 mixed with air
gradually moves throughout the stope as it ventilates the
stope and exits through the drive.
The exiting air mixed with SF6 was measured at the
entrance as shown in figures 3(b) and 3(c). The SF6
concentration was measured at the entrance by the SF6 gas
monitor (Bruel & Kjaer Model 1302 photo-acoustic gas
monitor). The monitor has a resolution of 10 ppb, an
absolute accuracy of +/-50 ppb and a sampling rate of 40
seconds.
The second test was conducted in a crib room located
along the main drive on level 600 at the southern block of
the ore body. The crib room typically represents a dead
space along a mine airway. The crib room is 3m high, 2.5m
wide and 5 meters long. Figure 4 (a) shows the plan view
of the crib room, figure 4 (b) shows the isometric view of
the crib room as a dead space and Figure 4 (c) shows the
entrance into the crib room where the SF6 is monitored. SF6
was released by pulse injection at the back of the room and
the SF6 concentration against time was measured at the
entrance as shown in figure 4.
 Vent. duct

Conc. (ppm)
qi Stope
(12m x 8m x 5m) Suction RS232C
Time
SF6 pulsed Out let Port - +12V
SF6 monitoring Suction pump
released into fan Laptop computer
DX6100 Gas monitor CO2

Used air (a) Measurement system

Uo
Qo,U
Upper level
(a) Plan of Stope air flow, SF6 release and monitoring

Raise 2

Raise 1
Working face
(Stope)

Sampling Exhaust
Dead Lower level Fan, 60 Hz
space point

(b) Stope model lay out

W
(b) Stope entrance, SF6 sampling

Gas sampling
to CO2 monitor

L
Uo qi , CO2
(c) SF6 monitoring system Q Injection
Figure 3. Schematic stope arrangements, SF6 release and
measurement system. (c) Dead space CO2 injection and monitoring
Figure 5. Laboratory model, measurement system and
dead space model measurement system.

Crip room. SF6

(3m x 2.5m x 5m) Release 4 Laboratory Measurement
SF6
The down scale model of a narrow vein shrinkage stope
Monitoring was constructed to a scale of 1:40. The stope layout
Main air drive Uo ,Q
includes a vertical ore body of 100cm×100cm×4.0cm and
(2.5m x 2.5m)
two main productions levels, upper and lower levels, with
(a) Crib room plan. SF6 release and monitoring 10cm×10cm opening. The complete laboratory set up and
the arrangement is as shown in figure 5. Figure 5 (b) shows
the stope model and the construction of the dead space, 2.5
m from the in-let.
The system characteristic curve for the model was
obtained at different airflow rates and its corresponding
pressure drop noted. The CO2 gas monitor DX6100 used in
this research has a very high sensitivity and stability, with
a very fast sampling rate of 0.2 seconds. Due to presence
of CO2 in the atmosphere, especially in the laboratory,
calibration of DX6100 gas monitor was conducted by
(b) Crib room entrance and monitoring preparing and measuring different levels of CO2
concentration with another CO2 sensor.
Figure 4. Plan of crib room a, SF 6 release and The experiment was conducted as shown in figure 5
measurement system. (c). 4 cc of CO2 was released by pulsed injection from a
syringe into the dead space. Air entering the main opening
passes through the dead space. The dead space opening
creates turbulence. The air stream separates and some air
passes into the dead space and mixes with the injected
CO2. The CO2 concentration in the dead space was 3.0
monitored as shown in figure 5 (c). Air samples from the

SF6 Conc. (ppm)

entrance of the dead space are drawn into the gas monitor
by a suction pump at a speed of 5m/s. The gas monitor 2.0
parameter settings and operations are controlled and
executed by the DX6100 Vision II software via the RS-232 1.0
COM port from the computer. The gas monitor analyzes
the concentration at 0.2 seconds sampling interval as
shown in figure 5 (a). The measurement and monitoring of 0.0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
CO2 against elapsed time was achieved on a real-time base.
Three sets of measurements were conducted from this Time (min)
model by changing the volume of the dead space by Figure 6. Concentration-time curve for open stope
increasing the length of the dead space. The width and the measurement
height of the dead space remain constant.
100.0
5 Results
C =3.9·exp(-0.085·tmin), N =5.1

SF6 Conc. ppm

10.0 h-1 R2 = 0.9423
5.1 Results of Mine Measurement
The results presented in this paper comprised of two 1.0
measurements. The mine measurement was conducted at
the Pongkor underground mine in Indonesia and the
laboratory measurements were conducted on a scaled 0.1
model at the Kyushu University. In both cases, tracer gas 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
was released in the dead space the concentration -time Time, t (min)
curves were measured at the entrance of the dead space. Figure 7. Semi-Log plot of concentration-time curve,
open stope(N=5.1 h-1)
5.2 Concentration-time curve of mine open stope
50.0
Curves of concentration against elapsed time for the mine
stope and the crib room are given in Figures 6 to 9.
SF6 Conc. (ppm)

40.0
Figures 6 and 8 show linear plots and Figures 7 and 9
shows semi-log plots on the concentration after the peak. 30.0
The SF6 concentration increases in the first few minutes 20.0
and reaches its peak. After the peak, SF 6 concentration
reduces at a constant rate, before reducing exponentially. 10.0

0.0
5.3 Concentration-time curve of laboratory dead space 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
model Time (min)
Curves of concentration against elapsed time for the Figure 8. Concentration-time curve at Crib room with
laboratory dead space model are given in Figures 10 to 13 SF6 Monitor
where Figures 10 and 12 show linear plots and Figures 11
and 13 shows semi-log plots on the concentration after the 100.0
peak. C = 51·exp(-0.059·tmin), N= 3.5 h-1
R2 = 0.9651
The CO2 concentration increases in the first few
Log(SF6 conc.) ppm

seconds and reaches its peak. After the peak, CO 2 10.0

concentration reduces at a constant rate, before reducing
exponentially. 1.0

6 Air Exchange Rate and Ventilation Efficiency 0.1

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
The main primary forces to drive the air into the dead
spaces in both mine and the model are the turbulent Time (min)
fluctuations and flow field, created by the dead spaces as Figure 9. Semi-Log. concentration time curve at Crib
discussed by Telbany et al. (1985). From the room with SF6 Monitor (N=3.5 h-1)
concentration-time curves, the decaying process begins
after the peak. The rate of decay depends on
 the volume of the dead space, main drive flow rate and the
250
Dead Space Volume: V=767cm 3 geometry of dead space. In order to obtain the exponential
200 constant, the concentration time curve after the peak was
plotted on a semi-logarithmic scale.
CO2 Conc. (ppm)

150
The air-exchange rate, N (h-1) is expressed as,
100
Q
50 N  x 3600 (h-1) (1)
V
0 where, Q(m3/s) is ventilation air flow rate, and
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
V(=LW2) m3 is volume of space (cavity or room). The air
Time (sec)
flow rate can be measured from age of air, τ (s), which is
Figure 10. Concentration-time curve for laboratory evaluated based on the concentration-time curve with,
model V
Q (m3/sec) (2)

1000 The gradient of the decay represent the air exchange
rate. Figures 14 and 15 shows the relationship between the
100 air exchange rate, ventilation efficiency, dead space
Conc CO2, ppm

R2 = 0.9853 dimensions and the velocity.

10
C = 781·exp(-0.21·tsec) , N = 756 h-1 Ventilation efficiency, ε can be defined as ratio of
ventilation flow rate against main flow rate.
1
L/W=1, V= 767cm3 Q NV NL
 2
 2
 (3)
0.1 U 0W U 0W U
0 5 10 15 20
Figure 14 shows non-dimensional value of the air
Time (sec)
exchange rate, NW/U0, against aspect ratio of the dead
Figure 11. Semi-Log plot of concentration.-time curve space, L/W. It is very clear that air exchange rate is
for Laboratory model decreased with aspect ratio as an empirical equation as;
U0
150
Dead Space Volume: V=1767cm 3 N  0.01 (4)
L
0.010
CO2 conc. ppm

100
0.008
NW/Uo

0.006
50
0.004
Model Calculation
0.002
Mine Measurement
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 0
0 1 2 3 4 5
Time (sec) L/W
Figure 12. Concentration - time curve for Laboratory Figure 14. Air exchange rate, N/(Uo/W) Versus aspect ratio,
Model L/W

2.0 Model Calculation

1000 3 Mine Measurement
L/W= 2, V= 1767cm 1.5
100 ε
CO2 Conc. ppm

1.0
10
0.5
C= 225.86·exp(-0.0853 tsec), N =201 h-1
1 R2 = 0.9965 0.0
0 1 2 L/W 3 4 5
0.1
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 Figure 15. Ventilation efficiency ε, against aspect ratio
Time (sec) Figure 15 shows the non-dimensional value of the
ventilation efficiency against the aspect ratio. From this
Figure 13 Semi-Log plot of concentration - time curve curve, efficiency can be defined as,
for laboratory Model
 W The main parameters were mainly based on the aspect
  1.46 (5) ration (L/W) and the airflow rate in the main drive, as they
L
affect the slope of the decay of concentration time curve,
which is taken as the air exchange rate N, (h-1). Although
there is a slight difference in the two mine measurements,
the crib room measurement shows the exact layout of the
laboratory model measurement conditions. All parameters
in the laboratory model measurement are same and static
except the change of the length (L) of the dead space to
increase the dead space volume.
L/W = 1.5 From the concentration time curves of both the mine and
L/W = 1
model measurements, a semi-log concentration time curve
was obtained from the decay part of the curve. The
gradient of the curve gives the air exchange rate, N (h-1) In
order compare and relate the mine and the model
measurements, a non-dimensional value of air exchange
rate (N/W/Uo) against the aspect ratio L/W of the dead
space was obtained as shown in figure 14. From this graph
equation 4 was obtained. It gives a rough estimate to relate
air exchange rate to the main drive airflow (Uo) and the
length (L) of the dead space. Also the relationship between
L/W = 2 L/W = 3 ventilation efficiency and the aspect ration can be in
equation 5. It is inversely proportional to the aspect ratio.
Figures 16 and 17 shows the visualization of flow in
the cavity and ventilation profile in dead spaces. Sasaki et
Figure 16. Flow visualization of gases in cavity
al. (1989) did laboratory experiment with different W/L
area (Sasaki et al. 1989)
aspect ratio and found that for aspect ratio greater then 2,
there is very small or stagnation at the end of the dead
Uo space. This can also be confirmed by this research based
W on mine measurements and laboratory experiments on dead
spaces.

L/W > 2 Q
Airflow
Circulations
L study the age of air and ventilation efficiency in localized
Stagnant area.
Small to no
airflow
Figure 17. Airflow circulation area and stagnant flow in
dead space for L/W > 2. Main drive airflow Uo and dead
space airflow Q.
7 Discussions
This research was carried out to investigate the effect of
dead spaces along the mine airways on quality of air in
terms of air exchange rate and ventilation efficiency. The
measurement procedure is different to that of the
conventional room or building ventilation studies. The
procedure and the settings of the current measurement is
similar to that of Sasaki at al. (1995) and Telbany et al.
(1985) but measurements were conducted in both under
ground mine and laboratory model.
8 Conclusion
This is a first comparative study conducted in a mine dead
space and dead spaces created in a laboratory model to
mining zones. Air exchange rate N, and ventilation
efficiency ε, decreases exponentially as the length of the
dead space L increase under a constant cross sectional area
and main drive airflow velocity.
Ventilation in dead spaces along mine airways depends
on main drive airflow, and the length of the dead space.
Ventilation is not very good in dead spaces with W/L ratio
greater then 2 as confirmed by this research and other
previous researchers. The Measurement conducted in the
stope for the mine measurement is arguable because of the
auxiliary fan. Finally, there is a further need for more field
measurement for various dead space volumes and main
drive airflow velocity.
9 Acknowledgement
The authors would like to acknowledge the kind financial
assistance from Glodal Centre of Excellence in Novel
Carbon Research (G-COE) Kyushu University for the
financial grant and support for this research. The authors
would also like to thank the Ministry of Education,
Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan
(MEXT), and Kyushu University, Department of Earth
Resources Engineering for the continued assistance and
support. We are also thankful the Papua New Guinea
University of Technology for the undivided support.
10 Nomenclature
H = Height of the airway, and dead space, (m, cm)
L = Length of dead space from the entrance. (m, cm)
W = Width of dead space opening. (m, cm)
N = Air exchange rate (h-1)
Q = Air flow rate in main drive. (m3/min, cm3/sec)
qi = Amount of tracer gas released into the dead space
U0 = Air average velocity in main drive (m/s).
V = Total volume of dead space (m3 , cm3).
τ = Age of air (sec , min)
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