Head-neck local ventilation mode for long-narrow mine working face

Abstract

To improve the thermal health state of workers in mines facing heat hazards and enhance cooling capacity utilization efficiency of mine ventilation, this study proposes a suitable air distribution for mine workers’ local cooling, taking into account the characteristics of long-narrow underground space and workers. The suggested air distribution involves harnessing underground cold air jets along with the mine’s crossflow (mainstream ventilation) to create a localized safeguard airflow around the worker’s head-neck, known as jet ventilation in crossflow (JVIC). The flow visualization experiment identified five flow patterns within a confined space. The study explores the impact of the velocity ratio (R) and confinement scale (C) on the evolution of JVIC flow patterns and presents a parametric description of the resulting flow field. Drawing on the microclimate control scope around mine workers’ head-neck, the study defines the effective cooling zone and the ineffective cooling zone as the boundaries for controlling JVIC air distribution within confined mine spaces. This clarifies the applicability of the air distribution form and introduces an evaluation model for assessing the cooling effect and the efficiency of cooling capacity utilization to manage the non-uniform underground environment.