1. 12 th U.S./North American Mine Ventilation Symposium June 9 – 11, 2008, Reno, Nevada, USA DEVELOPMENT AND INTEGRATION OF VENTILATION SIMULATION TOOLS FOR COLLIERY VENTILATION PRACTICE Leon van den Berg, Kobus van Zyl, Wynand Marx BBE Consulting, South Africa Andrew Thomson Anglo Coal Operations Limited - Anglo Coal, South Africa

2. 12 th U.S./North American Mine Ventilation Symposium June 9 – 11, 2008, Reno, Nevada, USA Presentation Overview Background Mine ventilation software developed Mine ventilation simulation integration –Current practices –Typical design and modeling approach –Simulation as part of the planning process Case study Questions

3. 12 th U.S./North American Mine Ventilation Symposium June 9 – 11, 2008, Reno, Nevada, USA Background Mine ventilation simulation software not new Faster and improved mine vent assessment Improved health and safety Mine vent optimization and LoM planning –Energy efficient –Cost effective ventilation design

4. 12 th U.S./North American Mine Ventilation Symposium June 9 – 11, 2008, Reno, Nevada, USA VUMA-Network Windows based software Network graphically constructed Consist of branches and nodes Input data for branches and nodes Steady state environmental conditions Aero, contaminant and thermo solutions Results: –Reporter –3D Viewer

5. 12 th U.S./North American Mine Ventilation Symposium June 9 – 11, 2008, Reno, Nevada, USA VUMA-Coal Coal mine specific terminology Vent wall leakage control New graphic model construction methods –Main development branch –Integrated leakage components –Air crossing No thermo solution Maximum depth of 500 m

6. 12 th U.S./North American Mine Ventilation Symposium June 9 – 11, 2008, Reno, Nevada, USA VUMA-Coal Leakage Calculation Based on work done by Martinson in 1985 –Modeling of parallel leakage paths –Use fixed resistance factor per wall [ΔP based] Cannot model every vent wall in a coal mine Equivalent leakage for “path length” Based on –Combined cross sectional wall area for path length –Wall resistance Path length specified by user Calibrated and verified in the field

7. 12 th U.S./North American Mine Ventilation Symposium June 9 – 11, 2008, Reno, Nevada, USA Field Trials - Leakage

8. 12 th U.S./North American Mine Ventilation Symposium June 9 – 11, 2008, Reno, Nevada, USA VUMA-Coal Main Development Branch

9. 12 th U.S./North American Mine Ventilation Symposium June 9 – 11, 2008, Reno, Nevada, USA VUMA-Coal Main Development Branch

10. 12 th U.S./North American Mine Ventilation Symposium June 9 – 11, 2008, Reno, Nevada, USA VUMA-Coal Main Development Branch

11. 12 th U.S./North American Mine Ventilation Symposium June 9 – 11, 2008, Reno, Nevada, USA VUMA-Coal Main Development Branch

12. 12 th U.S./North American Mine Ventilation Symposium June 9 – 11, 2008, Reno, Nevada, USA VUMA-Coal Main Development Branch

13. 12 th U.S./North American Mine Ventilation Symposium June 9 – 11, 2008, Reno, Nevada, USA VUMA-Coal Air Crossing Added resistance in system Use control manager to add resistance into system Field verified Air Crossing graphic input component

14. 12 th U.S./North American Mine Ventilation Symposium June 9 – 11, 2008, Reno, Nevada, USA VUMA-Coal Air Crossing

15. 12 th U.S./North American Mine Ventilation Symposium June 9 – 11, 2008, Reno, Nevada, USA Simulation as Part of The Planning Process OPERATIONAL LoM PLANNING SIMULATION

16. 12 th U.S./North American Mine Ventilation Symposium June 9 – 11, 2008, Reno, Nevada, USA Mine Ventilation System and Design Process –Obtain mine ventilation network layout and standards –Construct an operational simulation model –Calibrate operational model with actual vent data –Determine critical “snap-shots” over LoM –Solve and optimize airflow –Determine airflow profiles over LoM –Liaise with mine planning team –Document inputs and results

17. 12 th U.S./North American Mine Ventilation Symposium June 9 – 11, 2008, Reno, Nevada, USA Case Study Anglo Coal Greenside Colliery 3 sections in the north and 1 in the south North mining far away from infra-structure Need to move all sections north This will require 45 m 3 /s more air in the north Proposed actions –Seal off abandoned areas in the South –Seal off workings of old section in the south

18. 12 th U.S./North American Mine Ventilation Symposium June 9 – 11, 2008, Reno, Nevada, USA Case Study Sealing Area 110 m 3 /s Sealing Area 220 m 3 /s Sealing Area 325 m 3 /s Section to be moved50 m 3 /s Total110 m 3 /s

19. 12 th U.S./North American Mine Ventilation Symposium June 9 – 11, 2008, Reno, Nevada, USA Case Study Results Sealing strategy Cumulative Air Available for North [m 3 /s] Total Up Cast Volume [m 3 /s] Cumulative Leakage [m 3 /s] Base0515125 Area 115510125 Area 225505135 Area 330495142 Move Section45475150 40 m 3 /s 25 m 3 /s 65 m 3 /s = 110 m 3 /s

20. 12 th U.S./North American Mine Ventilation Symposium June 9 – 11, 2008, Reno, Nevada, USA General Benefits Using Mine Vent Simulation Benefits achieved by Anglo Coal –A number of considered RBH with fan stations not required [$ 3 million saving in 2006]. –Improved LoM vent capital scheduling –Indicated new ventilation infrastructure requirements [and scheduling]. Production losses avoided –VUMA-coal models specified all future fan station aerodynamic design criteria –Documented reviews allow continuity in future as LoM OPEX and CAPEX schedules

21. 12 th U.S./North American Mine Ventilation Symposium June 9 – 11, 2008, Reno, Nevada, USA Conclusions VUMA-coal proven to be necessary design tool VUMA-coal successfully integrated into mine planning process

22. 12 th U.S./North American Mine Ventilation Symposium June 9 – 11, 2008, Reno, Nevada, USA ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Anglo Coal for their support of VUMA-coal and for allowing the examples and case study to be published in this paper.

23. 12 th U.S./North American Mine Ventilation Symposium June 9 – 11, 2008, Reno, Nevada, USA Questions ?