Abstract
With the increasing operation costs and implementation of carbon tax in the underground coal mining systems, a cost-effective ventilation system with well methane removal efficiency becomes highly required. Since the intermittent ventilation provides a novel approach in energy saving, there still exists some scientific issues. This paper adopts the design concept of frequency conversion technology (FCT) to the ventilation pattern design for the first time, and an optimized intermittent ventilation strategy is proposed. Specifically, a real excavation laneway of a coal mine in China is established as the physical model, and computational fluid dynamic (CFD) approaches are utilized to investigate the spatiotemporal characteristics of airflow behavior and methane distribution. Plus, the period of intermittency and appropriate air velocity are scientifically defined based on the conception of FCT by conducting the parametric studies. Therefore, an optimized case is brought out with well methane removal efficiency and remarkable energy reduction of 39.2% in a ventilation period. Furthermore, the simulation result is verified to be reliable by comparing with field measurements. The result demonstrates that a balance of significant energy saving and the methane removal requirement based on the concept of FTC is possible, which could in turn provide good operational support for FTC.
Highlights
In the underground coal mining operation environment, methane gas is one of the most hazardous emitted gases for it is highly explosive under certain conditions inside a laneway of the coal mine, which contributes to global warming [1,2,3]
The majority of coal mining operators employed this kind of ventilation system with fans working continuously during coal mining operation, which requires massive amounts of electricity to power the fan
In order to save energy whilst ensuring the methane removal efficiency, here, we introduce the design and implementation concept of FTC [34,35]: methane control is the main purpose in normal period of ventilation, when the methane concentration is beyond the specified value close to the alarm value of the methane sensor (0.7%v/v in this study), the velocity should be increased to reduce the concentration; when the methane concentration is under the specified value (0.4%v/v in this study), the velocity should be decreased to ensure methane gas to be recovered for operation of ventilation air methane energy extraction
Summary
In the underground coal mining operation environment, methane gas is one of the most hazardous emitted gases for it is highly explosive under certain conditions inside a laneway of the coal mine, which contributes to global warming [1,2,3]. To avoid the methane accumulation in the mining face area, and eliminate potential incidents and accidents, a good ventilation system is mandatory and highly desirable. Large ventilation system is installed in underground coal mines to supply fresh air and to dilute the methane gas below the maximum allowable level. It is showed that, nowadays, most ventilation systems generally supply excess fresh air to remove methane gas and ensure a safe working environment as required by local codes, and the specific energy consumption value differs from different site conditions. Jeswiet stated that at least 25% of electric
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