Heat recovery solutions for mine ventilation systems

TL;DRAbstract

Recently, Boliden Mineral AB acquired the Finnish copper mine Kylylahti. In connection with that, potential improvements, for instance in the ventilation system, is investigated. The supply air going into the mine must be heated during the colder months of the year to prevent icing that can damage the supply air shaft and adjacent structures. Currently, the heating is done with LPG, but there is a lot of available energy to possibly make use of since the return air is saturated. A heat exchanger could possibly decrease the operating cost, the carbon dioxide emissions and the noise that spreads over the area and disturbs the neighbours. Recently, the mine Zinkgruvan made a very successful investment in a plate heat exchanger, and a Canadian study shows that also battery heat exchangers can be a good alternative. In this work, both kinds of heat exchangers were evaluated. Calculations were made for the total number of hours spanning between February 2014 and January 2015, which were late

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