Choose Innovative Primary Ventilation Solutions

1. Choose Innovative Primary Ventilation Solutions Underground mines of all sizes need a well planned ventilation system to deliver fresh air to all working places. Mine ventilation is the process of supplying sufficient fresh air to the underground workings to achieve these purposes, ensuring proper distribution & use of the air, and controlling the return to surface of contaminated air. Gases in underground mines have three primary sources: diesel engines and other mechanical equipment, blasting and naturally occurring gases. Mechanical equipment is used, particularly in large- scale mining industry, for a variety of purposes, and is a source of various potentially toxic gases as well as of heat. Only diesel engines should be used underground, in a mobile, not static, application. Explosives break rock by instantaneously generating large volumes of gas at high pressure. Various gases may occur naturally in mines due to geological processes, decay of timber and other organic material and other causes. Coal mines are particularly susceptible to the presence of natural gases. These include toxic gases such as hydrogen sulphide (H2S) but the most significant are flammable gases, of which the most common is methane (CH4). However, other flammable gases may occur. Furthermore, flammable gases may occur not only in coal mines but also in metallic mines. Dust is produced and may, unless

2. controlled, be released into the general body of the air, by every activity in which rock is drilled, blasted, loaded or transported. A mine ventilation system must prevent the release of dust into the GBA, and remove air contaminated with dust from the areas where workers, machinery and equipment are working. Dust also poses a high risk to engines and equipment and this is an additional economic incentive to managing dust levels in underground mines. Blasting is the biggest single source of mine dust and is the most difficult process in which to control the release of dust. Very fine particles of dust, i.e. with diameter less than five microns can get past the human body’s dust filtering systems and lodge in the lungs, causing an accumulation leading to the disease pneumoconiosis. The serious form of this disease is silicosis caused by silica (SiO2). Silicosis is the oldest known occupational disease. Tuberculosis is a very serious and often fatal disease associated with pneumoconiosis. Asbestos and coal dust also represent major health risks in mines extracting those substances. Different people react more or less than others to dust exposure. A person’s general health & age can influence their response to exposure. So, it is important to install proper ventilation system in underground mines to ensure health and safety of workers. The main objective of mine ventilation is the supply of sufficient quantities of air to all the working places and travel ways in an underground mine to dilute to an acceptable level those contaminants which cannot be controlled by any other means. The basis of proper ventilation of underground mines is the adequacy of the Primary Ventilation system. This is the total mine air volume flow usually through the major underground workings, generally involving splits into parallel circuits. So, find effective primary ventilation system for underground mines to ensure proper airflow.