Advances in smart controls, sensors and IoT-enabled devices are providing new tools for miners tackling the ever-increasing challenge of ventilating their underground operations.
Ventilation systems are the largest consumers of power in underground mines, accounting for upward of 50% of energy use. Saving on energy costs and ensuring personnel receive clean air where and when they need it is now a business imperative for mine operators, who are employing a new generation of smart digital technologies to monitor and optimize ventilation systems and ensure a safe working environment.
While digital tools are relatively new to the mining industry, the key components of mine ventilation systems have not changed signifi cantly in the past 20-30 years, and their primary role remains unchanged: to remove build-up of harmful gases and contaminants from underground workings, and to provide and circulate a source of clean, breathable air to miners working deep underground.
Read more of the article in E&MJ here.