Optimum Auxiliary Fan Location to Control Air Recirculation

This paper presents the optimum auxiliary fan(s) location to control air recirculation in dead-end workings where diesel-powered vehicles operate. Investigations were conducted with various secondary fan locations from the dead-end crosscut with varying the intake air quantities using a 30 m3/s capacity twin 75 kW auxiliary fan and 45 m3/s capacity twin 110 kW auxiliary fan to control air recirculation and DPM. The results showed that if the drive intake airflow rate matches the fan capacity, air recirculation will occur even when the fan is located 10 m away from the crosscut entry. Results also showed that if the intake drive air quantity was greater than or equal to 150% of fan capacity, no recirculation was observed when the twin 75 kW fan location was at least 5 m and the twin 110 kW fan location was at least 10 m away from the dead-end crosscut access.