Numerical Simulation of Ventilation in Underground Mines - A Review

Cost component for ventilating a mine is increasing day by day. With depletion of shallower deposits, depth of mine and hence its ventilation cost is increasing. This necessitates more aggressive effort to optimally use ventilation energy by reducing wastage and excesses, and requires ventilation reorganizational planning an integral part of mine planning system. Ventilation simulation software are required to solve complicated mine ventilation networks in order to obtain solution for most economic ventilation lay out, optimum specification of fan, position and dimension of shaft and other openings, Natural Ventilation Pressure (NVP) and effect of seasonal variation. A number of such software has different features and capabilities and selection of ventilation simulation software for addressing specific problems of a mine sometimes becomes a tricky issue. This paper gives an overview of various ventilation simulation softwares available and a comparison of important features and capabilities of most used software which may become a useful decision tool