MINE CLIMATE

Dr. H. B. Sahu
Associate Professor
Department of Mining Engineering
National Institute of Technology
Rourkela – 769 008, India
Precautions against heat illnesses
Design and engineering control of the ventilation and air quality systems of the mine

Cool and potable drinking water should be available to workers in hot mines

Clothing that is appropriate for the work environment and level of activity should be
worn by personnel.

A workforce that is required to work in hot environments should be trained to recognize

the initial symptoms of heat strain and to adopt sensible work habits.
Methods of Improving the Cooling Power of Mine Air

Increasing the quantity of ventilating air

Drying of Mine Air

By passing it over dessicants like calcium chloride, magnesium chloride or silica gel

Adopting dry mining

Spraying of fuel oil over the surface of airways has been found to considerably reduce
evaporation from the surface.

Line the major airways with concrete with suitable drain pipes installed in it to drain off the
water from behind the lining and thus prevent moisture evaporating into the mine air.
Covering up of water drains
Refrigeration
To produce tolerable environmental conditions throughout the year at the working places
in the mine.

The air is cooled and dehumidified.

It is then conducted to the working faces as such or after mixing with a stream of uncooled
air so as to obtain the desired face temperatures

Calculation of Cooling Load of a Refrigerator

The required cooling load qc is then given by

Refrigeration Process

Evaporator: the liquid refrigerant evaporates

by extracting the latent heat from the air it
cools

Compressor: for compressing the refrigerant

vapour in order to raise its temperature of
condensation

Condenser: to turn the vapour refrigerant into

liquid again

Receiver: for storing the liquid refrigerant

Expansion valve: for reducing the pressure and controlling the flow-rate of the refrigerant
Compressor

For most large-capacity mine refrigeration plants, reciprocating compressors or centrifugal

compressors are generally used.
Rotary compressors are limited to small sizes only (fractional tonnage refrigerators).
Reciprocating compressors used in refrigeration plants are generally electrically driven, of high
speed (up to 370 rad.sec) or 3500 r.p.m.) and are usually air or water cooled.
Centrifugal compressors of single to eight stages have been used. They have higher speed than
reciprocating compressors. That is why they are more compact. There are no rubbing parts like
valves, piston rings, etc. and hence the efficiency is maintained over the whole life of the plant
and also the gas is delivered in a steady stream which does not come in contact with
contaminating lubricating oil.

Refrigerant
Should have a large latent heat of evaporation and should evaporate and condense as
near atmospheric temperature and pressure as possible.

Ammonia and fluorinated hydrocarbons like Freon 11, 12 etc. are suitable refrigerants.
Although carbon dioxide can reduce compressor size because of its low specific volume, it
is not suitable for use at mines, because of its toxicity.
Ammonia has the largest latent heat of evaporation and is cheap, but is toxic and corrosive for
brass and copper.
However, leakage of ammonia can be easily detected by smell and corrosion can be avoided
by selecting suitable material for construction of the refrigerator.
Commonly used in surface refrigeration plants.
Freon is a non-toxic refrigerant
Commonly used in underground air-cooling plants even though it is costlier than ammonia.
Freon II (trichloromonofluoro-methane) is generally used in centrifugal compressors
Freon 12 (dichloro-difluoro-methane), in reciprocating compressors.
Condensers and Evaporators

Condensers are generally of the shell-and-tube type. Evaporative condensers,

where the hot refrigerant vapour passes through finned tubes on which water is
sprayed by circulating pumps and there are fans to blow air over the condenser
tubes, are generally restricted to smaller plants not exceeding 350 kW (100 Rt) in
capacity. Such condensers do not need any further cooling of condenser water. But
for larger plants, the heated water from the condenser has to be cooled either in
spray ponds or cooling towers.

Evaporators are similar to shell-and-tube type condensers in construction. Their

design should be such as to allow the boiling of the refrigerant with minimum drop
of pressure as well as ensure efficient removal of heat from the medium being
cooled.
Spot Coolers
A single stage , horizontal spray chamber

A two-stage horizontal spray chamber

A district chiller supplying cold water to air coolers in headings or faces and
rejecting heat into a return airway
Cooling tower
Underground cooling towers
A section through a portable mesh cooler.
 A shell and tube heat exchanger may
contain over 200 tubes.
In a counter-flow heat exchanger, the
fluids inside and outside the tubes move
in opposite directions, maximizing the
total heat transfer.
In an air to water indirect heat exchanger, A water-to-water heat exchanger
a bank of tubes carrying chilled water is
located within an air duct.

Figure shows one layer in a bank of tubes. The

tubes are often inclined to the direction of
airflow to improve the efficiency of the unit
and to control the movement of condensate.

If tubes are not maintained in a clean

condition then the efficiency of the unit can
fall dramatically.

An air-to-water heat exchanger showing one

layer of tubes
hbsahu@nitrkl.ac.in
hbsahu@yahoo.co.in