PhD ThesisThe traditional method to predict air temperatures in mine roadways is based on
the assumption that the ventilation air temperature remains constant over the
ventilated age of the roadway. Hence, a steady-state solution prevails. As the capital
investment of providing an acceptable working environment in hot and deep mines is
increasing, more accurate and reliable temperature predictions in mine roadways will
be needed in future mine ventilation planning. For this reason, a transient model to
predict weekly air temperatures in mine roadways is developed.
The transient model is presented in the form of a computer program. It is
constructed from the mathematical techniques developed for calculating the transient
heat flow from strata (Cheung, 1988), conveyed coal (Cheung and Rabia, 1989) and
structural steel (Maneylaws, 1988), and the empirical equations developed by
Browning et al (1981) for estimating the heat from machinery. Duhamel's Theorem
is used in the mathematical technique for calculating the transient heat flow from
strata and conveyed coal. Details of these techniques are derived. In addition, the
algorithm of the computer program is presented in terms of flow charts.
Climatic investigations were undertaken at British Coal Collieries; three sites at
Wearmouth Colliery, Sunderland, and one site at Whitemoor Colliery, Selby. During
the investigations, temperature surveys were conducted at all the sites. Using the data
collected from these sites, the transient model is validated against field measurements
and agreeable correlation achieved. Moreover, recommendations are made to improve
the model
