Browsing by Author "van Gruting, Ulrich"
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- ItemDeveloping a compressed air benchmark approach to be used as a metric to identify ventilation shortfalls(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-11) van Gruting, Ulrich; Schutte, Cornelius Stephanus Lodewyk; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Industrial Engineering. Engineering Management (MEM).ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Platinum mining contributes significantly to the economy of South Africa. However, deep-level platinum mines in South Africa are facing numerous challenges which is placing strain on the profitability of these mines. One challenge that stood out is the rising electricity cost which is detracting from the price of Platinum Group Metals. This challenge has forced platinum mines to investigate improving the efficiency of electricity consumers. Two utilities that were specifically highlighted are compressed air and ventilation. Compressed air is a critical component in the mining operation and accounts for a large portion of electricity use. It has been estimated that 75% of produced compressed air is wasted because of mismanagement and misappropriation. The wastage stems from leakages, as a result of poor maintenance, mismanagement and misappropriation. To address the low efficiencies in deep-level mine compressed air systems, previous studies have investigated several demand-side management initiatives to reduce the wastage of compressed air. Ventilation, the second utility, promotes an optimised mining cycle and is critical to ensuring that the health and safety standards of mine personnel are adhered to. Mining companies prioritise production considerations over ventilation requirements and as a result, ventilation networks are often inadequate. This often causes compressed air to be misappropriated as an interim solution for cooling working areas underground. Existing studies on underground compressed air wastage and ventilation shortfalls in deep-level mines are limited. Additionally, the effect of ventilation shortfalls on compressed air misappropriation has not been evaluated. Hence, a need exists to determine the relationship between compressed air wastage and ventilation shortfalls. Current methods for addressing compressed air wastage and ventilation inefficiencies, such as benchmarking models, simulations, leak management, and conventional audits, do not specifically target ventilation shortfalls as a root cause for compressed air wastage. Additionally, these studies make use of complicated and limited methods to address compressed air wastage and ventilation inefficiencies. To address the problem identified, the main study objective of this thesis was the development of a new methodology, utilising compressed air wastage as a metric, to identify ventilation shortfalls in a less resources and time-intensive way. A new method was developed that benchmarks compressed air systems in deep-level underground mines to identify and prioritise levels based on the highest compressed air wastage. This newly developed method was further tailored towards ventilation shortfalls, utilising a newly developed Baseload Intensity indicator, to identify the level with the highest possibility of a ventilation shortfall. By localising ventilation shortfalls to specific crosscuts using the crosscut baseload method (in conjunction with the Baseload Intensity indicator), the methodology reduces the resources and time required to identify ventilation shortfalls. The newly developed methodology, with its sub-methods, was applied to two deep-level platinum mines in the North West province of South Africa. The application of the newly developed methodology successfully identified ventilation shortfalls using less resources and time (when compared with conventional audits) on both case studies.