Optimal use of mobile cooling units in a deep-level gold mine

The South African gold mining sector remains a significant contributor to the country’s economy.Facing several challenges that hinder the realisation of South Africa’s full mineral potential,the sector’s sustainability and profitability can be enhanced through implementing operational improvement measures.Mobile cooling units(MCUs)were identified as a potential focus area for operational improvement.MCUs are used as tertiary or in-stope cooling in hot underground workings.In this paper,a method was presented to characterise the performance of existing MCUs based on three key performance indicators(KPIs),namely,the wet-bulb temperature ratio(WTR),efficiency and position.Optimisation strategies were then elected and implemented based on these KPIs.The implementation of this method in a South African gold mine attained a reduction in pumped water volumes,reduced operating costs through electricity cost savings and improvements in underground ventilation air temperatures.

Architecture of volcanic sequence and its structural control of Yingcheng Formation in Songliao Basin

Yingcheng Formation is a set of volcanic strata composed of lava rocks,volcanic clastic rocks and sedimentary rocks,filled in some fault depressions in Songliao Basin,early Cretaceous.The study about litho-facies succession of Yingcheng Formation in the outcropped area of the southeast margin and in Xujiaweizi fault depression and its distribution based on analysis of seismic data,shows that the sequence of volcanic strata is quite different from the clastic sedimentary sequence.To study the architecture of volcanic sequence and its structural control of Yingcheng Formation in Songliao Basin,in this work,dividing of the volcanic sequence and dating of the sequence boundaries were finished firstly,then displacement and displacement rate of faults were calculated.The results show that,sample ages of top of the first member,the seconde member,and the third member are 127 Ma,115 Ma,110.7 Ma,respectively and sample age of the bottom of the third member is 114.7 Ma.The maximum displacement and displacement rate of the fault 1 are 3 km and 300 m/Ma,respectively,and those of the fault 2 are 3 km and 1000 m/Ma.Studies suggest that,the cooling unit of lava rock or pyroclastic rock is a basic genetic stratigraphic unit in volcanic sequence stratigraphy.Cooling units can construct a parasequence reflecting a volcanic eruption stage.A sequence was superimposed by some parasequences,responding to a volcanic active cycle.There are three types of volcanic sequences in Yingcheng Formation: type of explosion,type of effusion and type of mixed explosion-effusion.The surface of the volcanic sequence,an unconformity surface widely spread and traced in seismic profiles,is a base for analysis of volcanic sequence.The development of volcanic sequence was controlled by faulting,and the curves of fault displacement(rate)can reflect this control.The preservation of volcanic sequence was controlled by the type of volcanic structure and the regional subsidence,also different from that of the sedimentary.The type of volcanic structure of Xujiaweizi was a volcanic depression during the forming of Yingcheng Formation,and the breakdowns of volcanoes and structural subsidence were key factors in the volcanic sequences preservation.

Transforming Waste Heat into“Renewable Heat”

Introduction:The current worldwide electric power&heat&cool production has a negative impact on the environment by emissions and enormous leaks of low-potential waste heat.Transformation of unused industrial low power heat into“renewable heat”useful to enhance the efficiency of the system is essential and actual innovation in the field of worldwide environmental protection.By introducing and defining the terminology of low-potential,“renewable”,“green heat”has created a new,parallel category of research in the energy sector.Traditional co-generation systems produce heat for space heating and hot water and generate electricity.Moving to tri-generation allows growing demand for air conditioning for homes,offices and commercial spaces such as server rooms and switchboards to be met simultaneously or on a seasonal basis.Tri-generation,or combined cooling,heat and power,is the process by which some of the heat produced by a co-generation plant is used to generate chilled water for air conditioning or refrigeration.Usually an absorption chiller is linked to the plant to provide this functionality.The technical solution is related to the new efficient manner and system of simultaneous generation of heat/cold from multiple heat sources,which has not yet been known,but in practice required.New system also enables advantageous utilization of solar power in supporting of the cooling output.The innovative system can be operated also within the existing central heating distribution systems.

Thermodynamic performance assessment of vacuum membrane-based dehumidification and air carrying energy radiant air-conditioning system(VMD-ACERS)

Temperature and humidity independent control(THIC)air-conditioning system is a promising technology.In this work,a novel temperature and humidity independent control(THIC)system is proposed,namely VMD-ACERS,which integrates vacuum membrane-based dehumidification and air carrying energy radiant air-conditioning system.This work establishes a novel coefficient of performance(COP)model of VMD-ACERS.The main parameters affecting the COP of conventional fan coil unit cooling system(FCUCS)and VMD-ACERS are investigated.The performance of FCUCS and VMD-ACERS are compared,and the energy-saving potential of VMD-ACERS is proved.Results indicate that,for FCUCS,the importance ranking of parameters is basically stable.However,for VMD-ACERS,the importance ranking will be affected by FCU and refrigerant.The most important parameters of VMD-ACERS are condensation temperature and permeate side pressure.On the contrary,superheating,subcooling are relatively less important parameters.For VMD-ACERS,it is not necessary to pursue the membrane with very high selectivity,because the selectivity of membrane would also be a less important parameter when it reaches 500.The COP of VMD-ACERS is higher than that of FCUCS when the permeate side pressure is higher than 8 k Pa.The VMD-ACERS solves two technical problems about power-saving and thermal comfort of conventional THIC,and can extend the application of THIC air-conditioning system.