Perm National Research Polytechnic University, Perm, Russia:

L. Yu. Levin, Professor, Chair of Mineral Mining, Doctor of Engineering Sciences, aerolog_lev@mail.ru

Mining Institute, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Perm, Russia:
M. A. Semin, Engineer
Yu. A. Klyukin, Engineer
A. S. Kiryakov, Leading Engineer

The article recommends on choice of air velocity in ventilating passages and on determining design figures of such passages. The results have been obtained from a series of numerical computations of air flow along a ventilating passage and at the passage and air shaft junction at different design figures of the passage. The numerical modeling used Fluent from ANSYS. After various geometries of ventilating passage and air shaft junction have been analyzed, it is concluded that rounding of sharp angles at the junction is a more efficient measure aimed to minimize pressure loss in the ventilating passage versus turn of the passage and its smooth expansion at the air shaft junction. The share of linear air drags in the overall air resistance in the ventilating passage and the passage and air shaft junction makes 15%. Construction and operation costs of a ventilating passage are evaluated. It is found that air drags in a ventilating passage are the main source of the construction and ventilation costs of the passage and should serve the determinants when choosing design figures of a ventilating passage and its junction with air shaft. The constructed approximation function enables analytical estimation of pressure difference at the ventilating passage and air shaft junction. The authors have formulated a criterion for efficient height of a ventilating passage, the overshoot of which is economically inadvisable from the viewpoint of ventilation cost. Based on the criterion, the authors offer guidelines on finding optimal air velocities and design figures for ventilating passages, considering the criterion of overcoming of air drag in the passage at minimized cost. The proposed procedure has been used in preparing project documentation on parametrization of a ventilating passage in Polovodovsky Potash Mine.

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