Influence of Fleet Tracking on the Reliability of Ventilation System in Underground Mines Case Study: Takht Coal Mine

Ventilation networks in underground mines may be affected by items such as location of objects in air path or destruction of support systems, which would result in pressure loss and distortion of air flow. Considering the necessity of keeping the network performances at appropriate level in such conditions, in this study, definition of ventilation network evaluation has been proposed, which indicates the network reliability in an uncertain situation. Economic and safety concerns in mines involve this fact that the ventilation network should provide the amount of air in an effective, reliable and safe manner. For designing or evaluating a ventilation network to obtain certain purposes, designers need criteria and regulations through which a network with proper performance is achieved. So far, there is no deterministic approach to analyze the efficiency of networks. It seems that calculation of reliability of network components and then estimation of the whole networks reliability is the best measures to achieve this aim. This study recommends a new method based on Dijkstra algorithm for analysis of the reliability of ventilation network. Using the air flow distribution function that has been created due to train moving in haulage tunnel, reliability of each branch network is defined. The new methodology has been studied in TAKHT coal minenetwork, which consists of 5 stops, 3 of which located between surface to +766, and 2 stops located between +766 to +722 levels. Haulage at the drifts is performed by locomotives. According to the various states of locomotive in each haulage section, 44 different states were simulated. Results of such simulations estimated that the reliability of the ventilation network between the input and output nodes is equal to 30%.