The heat balance study of the mining panel in the copper mine

Authors: W. Turkiewicz, J. Wacławik

The exploitation systems applied in mines of the Legnica-Głogów Copper Region, at considerable depths of mining and limited possibility of changing the ventilation systems, bring about a situation where thermal, gaseous and dust hazards exist.

The cooper ore is mined by the room and pillar methods using a complicated flow of air inside ventilation system. The climatic conditions are difficult in some workings of cooper ore of these mines. Heat is emitted to air of ventilation system from a variety of sources.

The rise of temperature and moisture content of air in cooper mines is effected by:

-autocompression, which gives an adiabatic increase of dry bulb temperature about 10°C on the airways of fresh air from surface to workings;

-the flow of heat from the strata, the virgin temperature of which is 40°C on the depth of 1000 m below surface;

-the heat from Diesel and mechanical equipment and others. In order to determine the influence of particular sources of heat the measurements were carried out using wet and dry bulb temperatures, the rates of air in the opening of section of the copper mine Rudna.

The operation of all mechanised equipment results in the production of heat.

The average heat produced by Diesel driven equipment was defined by the fuel consumption.

The total heat emitted by electrical machines is simply equal to the power consumption rate.

The highest increase of air temperature is caused by the diesel equipment and by heat of strata.