Ventilation characteristics of double-forced air pipe ventilation in comprehensive mechanized excavation face and determination of its optimal parameters

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study proposes a ventilation and dust control approach using double-forced air pipes at the tunnel excavation face, aiming to optimize the dust control and reduction measures for underground coal mining environment. We designed a physical model in proportion to the 11,139 excavation face in the Zhangji Coal Mine of China Huaihe Energy Holding Group Coal Company. To begin with, CFD numerical simulation was employed to unveil the basic laws of the double-forced air pipe ventilation approach, including airflow characteristics and dust concentrations. The orthogonal experimental method was then adopted to analyze the influence mechanism of installation location and airflow ratio of the double pipes on the dust density around the driver’s operating space. Results suggest that the double-forced air pipe ventilation can efficiently improve the airflow velocity at the excavation face, reaching 5.54 m/s. With the minimum dust density around the driver’s operating space as the optimal parameter standard and combined with the R value, the three factors in the orthogonal experiment can be sorted as: the distance between the forced ventilation pipe at the driver’s side and the excavation face (R = 206.91) > the distance between the forced ventilation pipe at the return air side and the excavation face (R = 171.72) > the airflow ratio of the two pipes (R = 77.52). The optimal combination is that the distance between the ventilation pipe at the driver’s side and the excavation face is 5 m, the distance between the ventilation pipe at the return air side and the excavation face is 5 m, and the airflow ratio of the two pipes is 6:4. In such a case, the dust density around the driver’s operating space is 48.21 mg/m3, achieving an ideal dust control effect.