Mining Institute of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Perm, Russia

A. V. Kashnikov, Junior Researcher, alexey.kashnikov@gmail.com
Yu. V. Kruglov, Head of Design and Innovation Center, Doctor of Engineering Sciences

Partial air recycling has proven its effectiveness in potash mines in Russia and Belarus due to the significant reduction in the required air consumption by the main fan and, as a result, the reduction in the total energy consumption for mine ventilation. The current approach assumes the directive setting of the permissible recirculation coefficient, and the gas concentration control is focused on reaching limit values, after which there is a complete stop of air reuse. The article discusses an improved approach to determining the current recirculation coefficient for regulated directions depending on the concentration of methane in the outgoing jet. The use of the fuzzy logic tool to determine performance of a recirculation plant allows for flexible regulation of the ratio of fresh and reused air directed to ventilation of working areas, taking into account the safe working conditions and balanced energy consumption, as well as the early response to the development of an unfavorable situation. In order to increase the stability of the functioning of the automatic ventilation control system, an algorithm is proposed for explicitly determining the most difficult-to-ventilate direction where the ventilation regulator should create the minimal additional aerodynamic drag, which is a condition of optimal energy consumption by the main fan. The lack of air in this direction is used as a corrective setpoint for the main fan. The formulas are developed for the operational recalculation of setpoints for ventilation equipment, taking into account the floating recirculation coefficient, allowing for the implementation of an iterative cascade control cycle within the framework of the general algorithm of the automatic ventilation control system. The proposed solutions were used in the development of project documentation for the technical re-equipment of the ventilation network at the Usolskiy Potash Plant.

The study was supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation. Project No. 122012000396-6.

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