Book Description

This symposium is organized by the Underground Ventilation Committee (UVC) of the Society of Mining Engineers (SME) and sponsored by these companies: Barrick Gold North America, Freeport McMoRan, Vale, REI Drilling and MVS, Inc. Since the first meeting in 1982, the vision of the UVC has been to provide ventilation engineers with the needed literature in the field and to promote the exchange of ideas and research results in different areas including monitoring of air contaminants, determining fresh air requirements, and producing power efficient ventilation and cooling systems. The 14th U.S./North American Mine Ventilation Symposium is the result of considerable effort on the part of the symposium committee, practitioners and ventilation engineers, academics, and research scientists. A total of 116 abstracts were received as a result of the call for papers, and 80 of these are presented in the proceedings. These were selected because they reflect the most pressing issues that ventilation professionals are dealing with today. The proceedings are divided into twelve topics: Numerical Modeling; Coal Mine Ventilation; Metal/Non-Metal Mine Ventilation; Diesel Emissions Control; Mine Gases and Dusts; Heat and Humidity; Mine Fires; Spontaneous Combustion; Main and Booster Fans; Ventilation Monitoring and Control; Ventilacion en Español. Of these topics three are covered extensively: diesel emissions control, ventilation monitoring & control, and numerical modeling using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Extended coverage of the first topic is the result of the increased use of diesel units in underground mines and the need to meet new regulations. For the second topic, the high level of interest results from the persistence of environmental hazards such as mine gases and dust in underground mines--particularly in coal mines. Finally, the rapid development of personal computers that can process complex fluid dynamic models quickly and efficiently has led to a rapid increase in research in this area. Currently, problems such as spontaneous combustion and air leakage through caved areas are being investigated using this tool. In addition to the main technical part of the symposium, an equipment exhibit, five short courses, and three field trips to nearby mines in Utah, Nevada, and Wyoming have been organized to give every opportunity for the participants to make the most of their time in Salt Lake City area.