Development of an efficient cooling strategy in the heading face of underground mines

Abstract

Heat damage in deep mines is severe and can lead to adverse health effects. The existing refrigeration schemes for the heading face in excavation roadways aim to cool the whole cooling region. However, the ratio of the area occupied by workers to that of the cooling region is quite small. A great quantity of energy for refrigeration is doomed to waste. In this study, a new cooling strategy for building a non‐uniform environment in the heading face was developed. A certain quantity of well‐designed tracking air coolers were distributed in the excavation roadway near the heading face. The air cooler tracked the constantly moving workers and blew cold air to them. Economic analysis based on estimation of the cooling load for this cooling strategy was conducted. The airflow in the excavation roadway was numerically simulated to estimate the cooling effect. An average energy saving of approximately 30% could be realized. The thermal environment for the workers whether near the heading face or in the roadway improved. This cooling strategy should be considered in all of mine cooling.