Numerical simulation to evaluate gas diffusion of turbulent flow in mine ventilation system

Tracer gas technique is a method to analyze the airflow path, measure the airflow quantity, and detect any recirculation or leakages in underground mine. In addition, it is also possible to evaluate the axial gas diffusion of gas in turbulent bulk flow by utilizing the tracer gas data. This paper discussed about the measurement using tracer gas technique in Cibaliung Underground Mine, Indonesia and the evaluation of effective axial diffusion coefficient, E, by numerical simulation. In addition, a scheme to treat network flow in mine ventilation system was also proposed. The effective axial diffusion coefficient for each airway was evaluated based on Taylor's theoretical equation. It is found that the evaluated diffusion coefficient agrees well with Taylor's equation by considering that the wall friction factor, f, is higher than those for smooth pipe flow. It also shows that the value of effective diffusion coefficient can be inherently determined and the value is constant when matching with other measurements. Furthermore, there are possibilities to utilize the tracer gas measurement data to evaluate the airway friction factors.

Analysis of explosion risk factor potential on coal reclaim tunnel facilities by modified analytical hierarchy process

This study focused on developing a risk assessment method for explosion at a coal reclaim tunnel （CRT） facility. The method was developed based on an analytical hierarchy process （AHP）, which is an expert system that quantifies the factors of explosion incidents, based on events and hierarchies. In this paper, the proposed model was modification from original AHP model, specifically modifying the structure from ＂alternative＇s results＂ to ＂total risk-rating＇s results＂. The total risk-rating is obtained by summing up risk-rating of each factor, where the risk-rating is a multiplication product of the risk value by the AHP weighted value. To support decision-making using the expert system, data on the real conditions of the CRT were collected and analyzed. A physical modeling of the CRT with laboratory-scale experiments was carried out to show the impact of a ventilation system in CRT on diluting the methane gas and coal dust, in order to support the quantification of AHP risk value. The criteria to evaluate the risk of explosion was constructed from six components that are： fuel, oxygen, ignition, confinement, dispersion, and monitoring system. Those components had fifty-two factors that serve as sub-components （root causes）. The main causes of explosion in CRT were found to be： mechanical ventilation failure and abnormal ventilation, breakdown of monitoring system, and coal spontaneous-combustion. Assessments of two CRT facilities at Mine A and Mine B were carried out as a case study in order to check the reliability of the developed AHP method. The results showed that the risk rating of Mine A was classified as high and Mine B was classified as medium, which is in a good agreement with the site conditions.

Discrete Tracer Point Method to Evaluate Turbulent Diffusion in Circular Pipe Flow

Diffusion of a solute in turbulent flows through a circular pipe or tunnel is an important aspect of environmental safety. In this study, the diffusion coefficient of turbulent flow in circular pipe has been simulated by the Discrete Tracer Point Method (DTPM). The DTPM is a Lagrangian numerical method by a number of imaginary point displacement which satisfy turbulent mixing by velocity fluctuations, Reynolds stress, average velocity profile and a turbulent stochastic model. Numerical simulation results of points’ distribution by DTPM have been compared with the analytical solution for turbulent plug-flow. For the case of turbulent circular pipe flow, the appropriate DTPM calculation time step has been investigated using a constantβ, which represents the ratio between average mixing lengths over diameter of circular pipe. The evaluated values of diffusion coefficient by DTPM have been found to be in good agreement with Taylor’s analytical equation for turbulent circular pipe flow by givingβ=0.04 to 0.045. Further, history matching of experimental tracer gas measurement through turbulent smooth-straight pipe flow has been presented and the results showed good agreement.