Abstract
The mining process in deep mines occurs at elevated temperatures and thus is significantly jeopardized by the thermal damage. In this study, the main factors causing high-temperatures under particular mining geological and prevailing conditions of coal mine production, namely for the Longgu Coal Mine (LCM) in Shandong Province of China, were specified and analyzed in detail. This included exothermic heat from the surrounding rock of an underground roadway, inflow of high-temperature water, seasonal temperature rise, mechanical and electrical equipment operation, and airflow compression in the mine. The integrated artificial cooling mode was implemented on the basis of the original normal ventilation and cooling facilities of the LCM, which involved cooling by mobile refrigeration units, water source heat pump refrigeration units, and a ground centralized ice-cooling radiation system, as well as the underground centralized cooling system provided by Wärme-Austausch-Technik (WAT) GmbH. Eventually, a comprehensive set of measures for the overall control and reduction of high-temperature-induced damage was realized, which ensured more effective cooling of the LCM. Thus, the average temperature of the main operation sites was reduced by 8 K, while that of the underground working faces was maintained at 299.15 K. These measures also resulted in excellent technical and economic benefits: the total three-year increase in revenue and savings reached 76.3 million USD, hence relevant findings of the study are expected to provide technical guidance on the treatment of high-temperature-induced damage in deep mines.
Highlights
Mineral resources are the essential material basis to maintain the operation of modern society
A similar advance to more considerable depths has been observed in China: thirty-two metal mines and forty-seven coal mines have been developed at mining depths over 1000 m [6], such as the Hongtoushan Copper Mine in Fushun and the Suncun Coal Mine in Xinwen having mining depths of 1600 and 1500 m, respectively
It is clear that the high-efficiency development and utilization of deep mineral resources will face more significant problems in safety, environmental impact, and economy, as well as require more advanced technologies [7,8,9,10,11,12], wherein the thermal damage induced by high-temperatures in deep mines, which exceed 303.15−313.15 K at a depth of 1000 m, has become a great challenge for production [13,14,15,16,17,18]
Summary
Mineral resources are the essential material basis to maintain the operation of modern society. We considered the mining geological conditions of the LCM as the engineering background, analyzed its high-temperature heat sources and factors, and proposed a single cooling method for the working face and an overall cooling method for each underground working place, which were different from other mines, and formed a set of comprehensive measures for the control and reduction of high-temperature-induced thermal damage (taking each mining face, tunneling face, pumping room and mine chamber as examples). This study should solve the thermal damage problem of the LCM on the premise of ensuring technical and economic benefits, and provide an example for the treatment of thermal damage in mines and a new idea for the comprehensive control of thermal damage in large deep mines
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