Heat Balance Determination Methods for Mining Areas in Underground Mines - A Review

Mine operation in presence of aerological hazards is a challenging issue for mine ventilation services. Increasing depth of exploitation and growing level of mechanization, due to the demand for intensification of extraction, makes it even more difficult regarding thermal hazard. As air temperature is a decisive factor shaping underground thermal working conditions it is extremely important to predict its value. This task determines the possibility of carrying out works in regions with the highest thermal hazard, where, due to the applicable regulations, it is necessary to use air conditioning to ensure appropriate working conditions for people. To determine the required cooling capacity for mining regions, it is crucial to identify the individual heat sources, as well as to define the amount of heat they generate. For this purpose, heat balances need to be set, taking into account the mentioned issues. The main goal of this paper is a presentation of methods available in the literature for determining the thermal balances of mining areas. The article also presents and characterizes the most important heat sources in underground mines. In addition, methods of determining heat fluxes from individual sources were indicated, as well as potential difficulties in the applicability of the above-mentioned methods for mining areas heat balances determination, in which, due to the current depth of exploitation, the thermal hazard is the most important natural hazard that determines the possibility of mining works.