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Characteristic studies of heat sources and performance analysis of free-cooling assisted air conditioning and ventilation systems for working faces of mineral mines

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Abstract

High temperature heat hazard at mineral mine becomes more and more serious as the increase of mining depth. Heat sources at working faces of mineral mines are complex and are of different characteristics, presenting new challenges for air conditioning systems. In this paper, heat sources at four types of working faces are summarized and their characteristics are investigated. Based on this, simplified equations, which are linear with length of working faces, are proposed to calculate heat dissipation rates. So that the main heat sources of different working faces can be found, and cooling load of air conditioning systems can be calculated. Then, considering main heat sources of coal mines, a typical working face is designed to investigate performances of different ventilation systems and air conditioning systems. Simulation results show that segmented ventilation systems (SC) and heat shield assisted centralized ventilation systems (CCHS) can realize much better temperature distributions at working faces. However, cooling load can be greatly reduced for CCHS, when untreated air is supplied to the coal seam side. Based on this, free cooling assisted air conditioning systems are designed, and annual average energy efficiency ratio (EERann) of the systems are investigated and compared between direct evaporate cooling and indirect evaporate cooling (IEC). For SC, as compared with scenarios without free-cooling, IEC can increase EERann by 15%–23% and 22%–32% under Benxi and Datong ambient conditions, respectively. Besides, to ensure high EERann, CCHS is preferred and it is essential to increase thermal insulation of air ducts.

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Abbreviations

B :

cutting depth of shearer (m)

c :

specific heat capacity (J/(kg·K))

COP:

coefficient of performance

D :

roof-control distance of working face (m)

EER:

annual average energy efficiency ratio of air conditioning systems

H :

mining height of shearer (m)

K :

heat transfer coefficient (W/(m2·K))

L :

length of working face (m)

m :

mass flow rate (kg/s)

P :

depth (m)

Q :

heat release capacity (W)

Q AHU :

cooling capacity of AHU (W)

QL :

heat release for unit length of working face (W/m)

t :

temperature (°C)

t gu :

original rock temperature (°C)

U :

perimeter of cross section (m)

v a :

air speed (m/s)

v sh :

shear speed (m/min)

W comp :

power consumption of the compressor (W)

x 1 :

electromechanical equipment power density (W/m)

x 2 :

occupant density (person/m)

x 3 :

length coefficient

x 4 :

time coefficient

x 5 :

length convert coefficient

ρ :

density (kg/m3)

ω :

humidity ratio (g/kg)

a:

air

ambi:

ambient condition

b:

backfill

dew:

dew point

e:

electromechanical equipment

mi:

mineral

o:

oxidation

p:

person

s:

surrounding rock

Sup:

supply

t:

mineral transportation

wb:

wet bulb

τ:

time

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Acknowledgements

The authors appreciate the support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51706015), and from the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (FRF-IDRY-19-01).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Civil and Resources Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China

    Rang Tu, Lijuan Huang & Aibing Jin

  2. Benxi Longxin Mining Co. Ltd, Benxi, Liaoning, 117000, China

    Mingfeng Zhang & Xiao Hai

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  1. Rang Tu
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  2. Lijuan Huang
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  3. Aibing Jin
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  4. Mingfeng Zhang
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  5. Xiao Hai
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Correspondence to Aibing Jin.

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Tu, R., Huang, L., Jin, A. et al. Characteristic studies of heat sources and performance analysis of free-cooling assisted air conditioning and ventilation systems for working faces of mineral mines. Build. Simul. 14, 1725–1736 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-021-0772-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-021-0772-0

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