A Three-Dimensional Simulation of Mine Ventilation Using

Computational Fluid Dynamics

H Siddique
1
, M Tuck
2
and J Naser
3
ABSTRACT
This paper reports a computational study using computational fluid
dynamics (CFD) in a mine ventilation system. Ambient air is injected to a
rectangular mine drive through a circular duct. Moisture evaporates from
shaft wall depending on flow properties of air in the drive-duct system.
The physical process involves simultaneous momentum, heat and mass
transfer. A species transport equation is employed to account for the
moisture concentration in air. The momentum equation is solved using
standard k- model, while energy and species transport equations are
solved using standard expressions for moisture evaporation rate and heat
flux from the drive wall.
The aim of this paper is to investigate effectiveness of CFD simulation
in relation to mine ventilation in a drive where a significant mass transfer
phenomenon occurs. Results from simulation are compared with existing
data from a site in Victoria.
INTRODUCTION
This paper is concerned with numerical simulation of fluid flow
in an underground mines environment. The variables that affect
mine climate control are mainly heat and humidity. Mine
ventilation aims to determine heat flow and estimate resultant
psychometric conditions. The main physical process involves
blowing ambient air into a mine drivage through a duct in order
to maintain temperature and humidity that will ensure health and
safety of underground workers. Mathematical modelling of fluid
flow and related phenomena is useful in enhancing the climate
control in mine environment. Several climatic prediction
mathematical programs available based on correlations in
relation to heat and mass transfer principles are documented by
Tuck, Stokes and Lowndes (1997). Computational fluid
dynamics (CFD) can be a useful tool for modelling fluid flow
and related processes in underground mine environment. CFD
simulation is based on solving transport equations that govern
fluid flow and related parameters in a given domain or region.
Fluid flow equations are usually referred as Reynolds
Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) equations, while heat or
moisture transport in the domain can be estimated using
equations that are similar to RANS equations. The individual
equations (eg RANS) express a certain conservation principle, in
case of RANS equations, it is momentum per unit mass and in
case of heat or energy equation it is specific enthalpy. Once the
calculation domain and co-ordinate system is determined, CFD
simulation starts with fragmentation of the calculation domain
into numerous small cells or grids. It is likely to obtain a more
realistic and representative solution using finer grids. This
fragmentation of the domain is usually accomplished by a grid
generation tool embedded in most of the CFD application or
software. Assigning boundary conditions is perhaps one of the
most critical considerations in any numerical modelling. As for
resolving the Reynolds stress in RANS equation standard k-
turbulence model works reasonably well with most high
turbulent flow situation where swirling is negligible (Wilcox,
1998). In this study, AVL SWIFT CFD software is utilised to
estimate flow variables and related parameters in a mine drivage.
GOVERNING EQUATIONS
The set of partial differential equations that describes fluid flow,
heat transfer and moisture transport in a given domain in
Cartesian co-ordinate system are given as follows:
Continuity equation

t
U + ( ) 0 (1)
where:
is fluid density
t is time dimension
U is the velocity vector
Momentum equation

U
t x
U U
p
x x
U
U
x
i
j
j i
i j
i
j
i
+ + +
j
(
,
,
\
,
( )
1
x
j
(
(

,

,
,
]
]
]
]
u u
i i
(2)
where:
p is fluid pressure
v is kinematic viscosity and the last term in the parenthesis is
usually referred as the Reynolds stress
The above equation is written in vector form, therefore, it
comprises three equations for the three coordinate directions.
There are several models available in the literature to estimate
Reynolds stress. In this investigation, this stress term is modelled
using standard k- method.
Energy equation

T
t x
U T c T S
i
i
+ + ( )
2
(3)
where:
T is the fluid temperature (a scalar variable)
c is a constant that depends on fluid thermal conductivity and
heat capacity
S is a source term
Two more equations of the form of energy Equation 3 is
required to estimate turbulence kinetic energy, k and turbulence
dissipation energy, , which are required to resolve Reynolds
stress.
Moisture transport in the calculation domain can be estimated
using a scalar equation of the form of Equation 3 where T is
simply replaced by a scalar variable, eg saturation moisture
index, X, X = 1 being saturated air and X = 0 is dry air.
Eighth International Mine Ventilation Congress Brisbane, QLD, 6 - 8 July 2005 489
1. Lecturer, School of Science and Engineering, University of Ballarat,
PO Box 663, Ballarat Vic 3353.
2. MAusIMM, Senior Lecturer (Mining Engineering), Discipline Leader
(Engineering), School of Science and Engineering, University of
Ballarat, PO Box 663, Ballarat Vic 3353.
3. Senior Lecturer, School of Engineering and Science, Swinburne
University of Technology, Hawthorn Vic 3122.
CALCULATION DOMAIN
The calculation domain consists of a circular duct placed in a
rectangular hollow box as shown in Figure 1. The circular duct
diameter is 1m and is 190 m long and its centre is centrally located
at a distance of 0.75 m from the top wall. Therefore, clearance
between the duct and top wall is 0.25 m. Air at specified condition
is driven through the duct which enters the rectangular box near
the end of the drivage from where flow pattern is gradually
developed and eventually released to the atmosphere.
The dimensions of each of the four rectangular walls are
200 m 5 m while cross-sectional area of the rectangular box is
25 m
2
. Air velocity in the circular duct is very high to assume a
flat velocity profile in the duct. Therefore, air inlet is considered
at the end of the circular duct at a specified velocity. The
calculation domain then becomes the volume of the rectangular
box (200 m 25 m
2
) minus volume of the duct.
Grid generation
AVL SWIFT software can generate grid (mesh) in a domain
automatically if details of the geometry is provided. The
calculation domain of the duct-drive system is too large however,
to employ automatic grid generation, ie it will generate millions
of grids. Therefore, manual option is chosen for grid generation.
For this purpose, the domain is divided into two blocks and block
structured grids have been prepared. All the cells are of
hexahedral type. Figure 2 shows a cross-sectional view of cells in
the two blocks and the overall grid arrangement for part of the
domain. The cross-sectional mesh in Figure 2a is extruded over
the entire length of the domain, ie 200 m while the circular mesh
in Figure 2b is extruded only 10 m and resides in the circular
region of Figure 2a at the end of the domain.
Finer grids are utilised in the last 10 m of the calculation
domain where flow pattern is expected to be highly complex.
Length of the cells in coarse mesh is 0.5 m while cell length in
fine mesh region is 0.25 m. Total number of cells used in this
investigation has been 167 520.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Fluid properties
Air used for climate control in the mine environment is driven at
a rate of 20 m
3
/s through the circular duct. Air properties are: dry
bulb temperature = 33C, wet bulb temperature = 25C.
Reynolds number in the duct at these conditions is 1 600 000,
therefore, flat velocity profile is assumed in the duct. Air velocity
in the duct becomes around 25 m/s which is used as one of the
inlet boundary conditions. Relative humidity of the inlet air is
about 52 per cent, therefore, saturation index of inlet air is
assumed as 0.52 (saturation index of one being 100 per cent
relative humidity).
Boundary conditions
The mine drivage is bounded by four walls; each of these walls
has an area of 1000 m
2
. The side walls are assumed totally dry
and their temperature is set at 40C, while the top and bottom
wall are totally wet and the temperature of these two walls are set
at 35C. Moisture will evaporate from the two wet walls and air
next to the two walls is assumed totally saturated with water
vapour. The saturation index of air next to the two wet walls are
set at one which is the boundary condition used to estimate water
vapour transport in the drivage. It is assumed that the latent heat
of vaporisation will be provided by the two wet walls. Therefore,
it is the two dry walls that can only contribute to any increase in
air temperature.
Numerical solution
Air is treated as incompressible fluid because there is small
difference in temperature between the wall and inlet air. Steady
state solution has been obtained for the transport equations
presented in the earlier section. Three order of mass residual
reduction has been obtained after 1000 iterations, while up to
five orders of residual reductions have been obtained for velocity
vectors, turbulence kinetic energy and turbulence dissipation
energy. Air velocity predicted at the outlet of the drivage is
primarily axial as expected and its magnitude is around 1 m/s,
which is a realistic figure. The maximum velocity is obtained
near the duct outlet which is about 25.5 m/s. Air temperature
increases by only 2C while pressure reduction has been 17 Pa.
The end of the drivage, where very high velocity air is injected
has a complex flow pattern with several regions of recirculation
and stagnation pockets. Figure 3 shows velocity vector in this
region. Figure 3a shows velocity vector on a long vertical section
that passes through the centre of the circular duct and covers a
distance of 20 m from the end of the drivage. Clockwise
recirculation is clearly evident at the end of the drivage and a
stagnation pocket is observed at the bottom left of the figure. In
fact, the stagnation pocket is a zone of a very low velocity
counter clockwise recirculation. Figure 3b shows velocity vector
on a horizontal section that passes through the centre of the duct.
In this profile recirculation zones and stagnation pockets are
clearly evident.
Inlet air entering the drivage is 52 per cent saturated with
water vapour and numerical solution predicts sharp increase in
water vapour content of the air. Almost 80 per cent of the drivage
490 Brisbane, QLD, 6 - 8 July 2005 Eighth International Mine Ventilation Congress
H SIDDIQUE, M TUCK and J NASER
Air in
Air out
200 m
5 m
FIG 1 - Calculation domain with a duct and drive arrangement.
A
B
C
FIG 2 - Grid arrangement of the calculation domain, (A)
cross-section of grids in block one, (B) cross-section of grids in
block two, (C) overall grid arrangement.
has a water vapour saturation of about 90 per cent or more.
Figure 4 shows water vapour saturation in the drivage along a
vertical section and a horizontal section that passes through the
centre of the pipe. Results show that air gets saturated by water
vapour in the region where there is active recirculation. This is
the region where both convective and diffusive mass transfer is
expected. The model used for water vapour transport is a
preliminary model; future work will involve implementation of a
wall-film model.
Grid independency has been investigated by doubling the grid
density and results change by less than three per cent and two
monitoring locations.
CONCLUSION
A CFD model has been utilised to investigate flow pattern,
temperature and water vapour in a mine environment. Steady
state solution of the transport equations has been obtained. Water
vapour transport has been modelled using a transport equation
similar to the energy transport equation. A new scalar variable
(saturation index) has been introduced to quantify the water
vapour content of air. Converged solution has been obtained for
all the variables after 1000 iterations. Complex flow pattern has
been noted near duct outlet with zones of recirculation and
stagnant pockets. This region extends about 35 per cent of the
length from the end of the drivage. Beyond this region uniform
axial velocity profile has been obtained. Only 2C rise in average
air temperature has been observed. Water vapour transport model
predicts significant moisture evaporation from the two wet walls.
REFERENCES
Tuck, M A, Stokes, M R and Lowndes, I S, 1997. Mine climate control
options in underground working zones, Final Report ECSC Project
No 7220 AC/006, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
Wilcox, D C, 1998. Turbulence Modeling for CFD (DCW Industries,
Inc).
Eighth International Mine Ventilation Congress Brisbane, QLD, 6 - 8 July 2005 491
A THREE-DIMENSIONAL SIMULATION OF MINE VENTILATION USING COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS
A
B
FIG 3 - Velocity vector near the end of the drivage on a (A) vertical long section and (B) horizontal section.
A
B
FIG 4 - Water vapour saturation in the domain on a (A) vertical section and (B) horizontal section.