Surface fan operational cost saving using purposely designed fans

Abstract

The use of high powered catalogued auxiliary fans to meet the ventilation requirements of fairly shallow mines is common practice and often is not an energy efficient ventilation solution. This paper describes the process followed to investigate the potential of using alternative and more energy efficient axial flow fans to meet the ventilation requirements when used as main surface fans for shallow platinum mine shafts. The benefit of replacing catalogued auxiliary fans used as main fans with purposefully engineered fans was considered. From the investigation it can be concluded that the operational cost saving associated with the saving in power due to the improvement in the operational efficiency proved that the replacement of the older generation installations is viable. When comparing a single original fan installation to a purposefully engineered fan it will have a payback period of approximately 7 months per complete new installation and will continue to save electrical operational cost as a result of the improved energy efficiency.