Simple mine 1

The following is a sketch of one of the Imaginary Gold Mining Company Limited mines,
namely Simple Mine 1. You are asked to simulate the airflow and heat flow in this mine
and to specify the cooling, airflow regulation etc to comply with certain requirements for
this mine.

The following requirements and specifications are given:

Requirements

A. Airflow quantity at X in sketch must be 100 m3/s.

B. Determine total dust loading at X.
C. Once this is achieved, attempt to balance the airflow quantities to the stopes by
placing regulators in the system.
D. Reduce the maximum stope reject temperature to approximately 27 °C by
adding a surface bulk air cooler to the system.
E. Insert a blast to all stopes and determine the blast clearance time
F. Complete info for Simple Mine 1 Presentation

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Steps

1. Open the included Simple Mine1.v3dNetwork model from the

Examples folder (Normally located under C:\VUMA3D-
network\Bin\Examples)

a. Make sure that reference drawings are visible.

2. Go to the References tab – and click on the Convert button

3. Click on Convert selected drawings – Leave the rest of the form as

is.

4. The Level editor form will open automatically. Review the

automatically generated levels, then click on OK to close the form.

5. Save the model at this point

6. The conversion process will automatically

create equivalent length tunnel
branches over each selected drawing
element – you now need to change (or
update) the individual branches to their
respective properties – as per the detail
below.

(To change a branch from one type to another (for

instance from a tunnel to a shaft – highlight the
branch by moving the mouse cursor over it, and
then right-click to bring up the context menu. Choose the Change branch type option
(Shortcut C) and select the new type required.) To edit a branch, double click on the
branch, or use the Shortcut E)

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 a. Change the branches in a logical sequence – start with the
downcast shaft – then progress through the station areas,
through the stopes until you reach the upcast shaft.

7. Once you have changed all the branches to match the sketch and the
provided information – you need to add a fan on top of the return shaft
– in order to move air through the mine. However – to determine what
fan to use – you need to know (amongst other) what the system
resistance of the mine is. The easiest way to determine the requirements
of a fan is to first change the branch at the top to a Control manager
of type Fix Flow – and to adjust its fixed volume flow input until it
meets the ventilation requirements as per the design. Then – you can
check the pressure rise required to achieve the air flow quantity – and
replace it with a fan capable of matching the parameters. The solving
process will be described later – for now, set the input to 100 m³/s (Bear
in mind the effect of density changes).

8. Since the abovementioned fix flow / fan will discard the air into

atmosphere, you need to ensure that the “Connected to start node”

box is checked – otherwise VUMA3D will treat the branch as being
unconnected – and ignore it during solving.

9. You also need to tell the program where the main fresh air intake of
the mine is – and you do that by assigning the Startnode property to a
single, specific node. For this example, navigate to the node on top of
the main downcast shaft, and double click on the node (or press E
whilst hovering over the node). If the button (Set as start node) is
enabled – click on it to set the current node as the start node. If the
button is greyed out (disbled), it indicates that the current node is already

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 the start node – and that no further action is required -except to click

OK to close the form.

10. You should now be

able to solve the
network – in order to
get the calculated air
flows and
psychrometric
properties. To perform a solve, click the Aero button on the solve tab.
If any message appears regarding unconnected or loose branches, you
will need to cancel the solve and fix the connections before attempting
to solve again. An easy way to connect branches is to use the Magnet
tool (As described in the “Using the tools” video tutorial).

It is highly recommended to solve using the Aero only option in the early
stages of modelling – before attempting to solve a Full or Thermo solution

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 11. If the solution
completed
successfully,
you should
see a green
check mark at
the top of the
screen. If not – you can click on the Solve >> Dashboard button to
investigate the cause.

12. Once you have managed to complete the Aero solution – you need to
verify that you are meeting the airflow requirement at X (Requirement
A). You might need to adjust the specified quantity of the fix flow (Step
7) to achieve it.

You need to re-solve after making changes to a model to see

the updated values.

13. To satisfy requirement B – you will need to perform a Contaminants

solution first. If you have correctly added the required dust loads to the
working areas (stopes) – you should now be able to see a calculated dust
concentration value by hovering the
mouse cursor over the node nearest to
position X. You can also see a visual

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 representation by changing the color mode type to Node – and the color
paramter to Dust.

14. To control (regulate) air flow quantities (Requirement C) – you will need
to add control managers (regulators) to divert air by increasing the
resistance in airways with too much air.

To add the control manager:

Air will follow the path of least
• Split (shortcut S) the return crosscut branch into two
resistance
sections
• Change (shortcut C) the first section to a control

manager.
• Edit the type to be a Tunnel reduced area regulator – and set the
Fraction of area open to be 10% (Initial guess value).
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15. Click OK to close the form – and resolve the network using the Solve
>> Aero button.

16. Repeat above process by installing additional regulators to the other

return cross cuts – solving after each significant change to the model.
Adjust the fraction open parameter of the regulators until you manage
to get the same airflow through each stope (+- 25 m³/s). (For a quicker
method – watch the tutorial videos on Converting fix flows to regulators).

17. To fulfil requirement D – you need to

perform a Thermo solution first. If
successful, set the colour type to
Branch and the colour parameter to
Wet bulb.

18. Hovering the mouse cursor over the stope branches will indicate the
branch outlet (stope reject temperature). Without cooling, this value
should be in the region of 28 °C. As per the requirements - add a control
manager of type Cooler – Fixed duty in front of the start node at the
entrance of the main downcast shaft. Set the initial duty to 1000 kW.

19. Resolve the model – and adjust the cooler – until Requirement D is
fulfilled. Note that you need to move the start node in front of the
cooler – otherwise the effect of the cooler will be discarded.

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 20. To perform a blast solution –
explosive input details first must be
added to the working places. To
quickly add it – click on the Solve
>> Add to all stopes button. Set
the Explosive type to ANFO
(branded < 152 mm) and click on
OK. Click OK again to close the message informing you that blasts were
added.

21. You need to perform a Thermo solution once again to ensure all the
values are up to date. Subsequently, click on the Blast clearance button.

• Import Simple Mine 1 Fan curve using fan digitizer

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Global defaults

• VRT gradient: 0.01 °C/m

• Rock type: Simple
• Rock specific heat: 780 J/kg °C
• Rock conductivity: 5.74 W/m °C
• Rock density: 2700 kg/m3
• Surface altitude: 1262.71 m asl (87 kPa)
• Surface VRT (rock temperature): 19 °C
• Average ambient conditions: 18 °C wet-bulb
28 °C dry-bulb
• Overall wetness rating: Wet
• Clothing factor: Moderate
• Radiation equilibrium factor 0.5

Tunnels

• All tunnels are Simple Mine 1 arch profile.

o Width 4 m
o Height 5 m
o Radius 2 m
• Use Atkinson method with a friction factor of 0.01 for tunnels.
• Average age of tunnels is 5 years.
• Wetness rating of tunnels is wet.
• All tunnels are shotcreted (surface cover rating).
• Each crosscut has a length of 150 m on Intake 2.
• Each crosscut has a length of 250 m on Intake 1.
• There is a dry linear heat in all intake tunnels of 5 kW per 100 m.
(Linear heat loads are added to calibrate a model to actual measured conditions
– and can also represent heat flow from pipes and cables strewn along the length
of the haulage).
• Visual Layer 1 - Tunnels

Shafts

o Downcast shaft: Circular, 7 m Diameter

o Borehole: Circular, 3.5 m Diameter
o Upcast shaft: Circular, 5 m Diameter

• Use Atkinson method with a friction factor of 0,025 for downcast shafts, and
0,004 for unequipped shafts.
• Average age of shafts is 10 years.

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 • Wetness rating of downcast shaft is wet and for the upcast shaft is very wet.
• Other heat load is a dry linear heat in all intake shafts of 5 kW per 100 m.
• Make Layer 1 – Shaft and services

Shaft station area

• Model the shaft station area using the default tunnel settings
• Wetness rating for the shaft station area is very wet.
• Shaft station tunnels are 7 years old on average.
• Use Atkinson method with a friction factor of 0.015 for shaft station tunnels.
• Make Layer 1 – Shaft and services

Production zones

• The mining method is Narrow Reef stoping (single sided breast mining)
• Vent option: Upcast
• Face length: 200 (closest to sub shafts), 180, 160, 140 m
[adjust per stope]
• Stope width: 1.2 m
• Strike length: 80, 70, 60, 50 m [adjust per stope]
• Strike gully perimeter: 8m
• Dip gully perimeter: 12 m
• In-stope vent control: Good
• Backfill Typical
• Vent control to face: 7.5 m
• Panels: 4
• Active face: 100%
• Pressure drop: 1 Pa per 10 kg/s
• Establishment period: 12 months
• Status: Active
• Face advance rate: Edit to achieve 15000 t/month per stope
• Fissure water ingress: 0.1 ton/ton of rock at VRT
• Service water use: 1.0 ton/ton of rock at 20 °C
• Outlet DB/WB difference: Typical
• Dust load per stope: 50 mg/s
• The total kW rating for winches in the production zone is 60 kW being used
moderately.
• Visual Layer 1 – Production Zone

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