Resumo

MEYER, Josua P.  e  MARX, Wynand M.. The minimizing of pressure losses in a fan drift-mine shaft intersection, using computational fluid dynamics. R&D j. (Matieland, Online) [online]. 1993, vol.9, pp.1-7. ISSN 2309-8988.

Working conditions in deep mining have to be made acceptable for human beings by ventilating the working areas with cooled air. In some instances, chilled air is blown from the surface level, via a ventilation duct, or fan drift, down a vertical mine shaft to the working areas. Inadequate aerodynamic properties at the fan drift-mine shaft intersection can result in high pressure losses across the intersection. As no definite set of rules exists for designing the optimum intersection, and scale model testing has been the only optimization tool available hitherto, the need for a fast, economically viable and accurate method motivated the present optimization study, using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The optimization is done through a parametric study, resulting in 40 different intersection geometries to be analysed. The flow field is solved, for the various geometries, with an industrial CFD code. Up to 28% reduction in pressure loss across the intersection was predicted with the limited parameter settings of a parametric study, promising significant savings in fan power-cost. The study highlighted the effectiveness of CFD in solving industrial air-flow problems and a functional set of data is introduced to fan drift designers to both design and optimize fan drift-mine shaft intersections.

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