Mining & Tunneling

VENTILATION MANAGEMENT WITH FAN CONTROLS

• Due to the increase in energy costs along with mounting government pressure to adopt more renewable sources of energy, it is necessary for underground mining operations to adopt more efficient solutions for the management of their ventilation network
• Through a solid, easy-to-program process control system, such as Conspec?s Senturion Mine Wide SCADA, and deployment of reliable atmospheric monitors and local control devices, such as Conspec?s Optio AQS, Optio Wireless Atmospheric Monitors, and Optio I/O Fan Controllers, it is proven that Ventilation Managers can achieve between 20-50% of ventilation cost savings without the need for costly ?Ventilation on Demand? solutions
• By controlling the mine?s auxiliary fans based on real-time mine air quality levels, the mine can benefit from tremendous cost savings on their power usage, just by utilizing the auxiliary fans as needed, rather than having them continuously run
• Conspec?s Mine Wide Atmospheric Monitoring and Ventilation Management System is a cost-effective option due to the flexibility of being able to deploy the system using a mine?s existing Ethernet, POE, LTE, Wi-Fi and VHF/UHF Leaky Feeder Data Communications Infrastructure and using its open architecture MODBUS RTU communications protocol
• This provides Mine Managers the greatest flexibility in installation options and system configurations for maximum coverage of their underground operations and ventilation system
• For an even lower barrier of entry, mines can attach Conspec?s I/O controller independently to the fans and utilize the built-in logic to control the fans based on air quality levels at the area. This can provide the mines with a simple, low barrier of entry proof of concept to see how easily they can decrease their power consumption through simple fan? controls

POST BLAST RE-ENTRY

• Traditionally, mines rely on a fixed time approach to deal with post-blast re-entry time. This often leads to substantial delays due to the requirements for managers and safety personnel relying on hand-held gas monitors to descend into the stop blasting area to identify any potentially damaged ventilation infrastructure and measure seismic movements at the working face
• This exposes valuable mine personnel to potential seismic and toxic gas risk, and often leads to significant delays in the return to the face to productive use
• Through the selective deployment of Conspec?s Optio G/IS Gas Carbon Monoxide (CO) and Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) Gas Monitors over existing data communications infrastructure near the blast area, Ventilation Managers can safely monitor real-time gas dissipation levels in the blasting areas post-blast
• This allows Ventilation Managers to remotely monitor post-blast gas dissipation and remotely identify any damaged ventilation infrastructure. Ventilation Managers can now deploy the necessary fully equipped Repair Teams from surface to repair or replace any ducting and ventilation infrastructure without risking personnel or causing delays, therefore significantly reducing the time to return to the blast face to productive use

AIR QUALITY MONITORING

• Air quality data, such as Oxygen, Carbon Monoxide and Carbon Dioxide levels are key pieces of information needed for the Safety, Ventilation, and Mine Hygiene departments for any mine
• Conspec?s Optio Air Quality Station not only provides Oxygen, Carbon Monoxide and Carbon Dioxide levels, but also Relative Humidity, Barometric Pressure, Wet/Dry Bulb Temperatures and Air Velocity
• This provides the mine with a complete picture of the air quality in various areas of the mine