Evaluation of the suitability of using Jet fans to ventilate continuous miner headings in collieries.

Abstract

A working party under the auspices of the GME developed a set of guidelines for the ventilating of headings in collieries developed by mechanical miners. These guidelines also made provision for the used of jet fans. Because of the lack of documented information on the effectiveness of jet fans with regard to the ventilation of heading faces, the GME prohibited the use of jet fans in mechanical miner headings pending further investigations. As a result, a special ad-hoc project was approved by SIMRAC, under project number COL 116, to determine the effectiveness of jet fans under normal production circumstances and to determine whether the jet fans could satisfy the requirements of the previously developed guidelines. This report describes the planning details of the project, the execution of the tests and the result that were obtained from the individual tests.