OREANDA-NEWS. February 18, 2014. AirNet software and compute suite will be used to manage ventilation nets at OJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel Polar Division. Actual ventilation parameters across the PD are currently identified by manual calculation which takes time and impacts the efficiency of airflow management all the while mine development necessitates prompt decision-making to ensure sustainable ventilation of stopes and mines in general.

Specialists of the Mining Institute under the Urals Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences were involved in the project and came up with the proposal to adapt the AirNet software and compute suit to the Polar Division mines and outfit them with ventilation networks.

The software’s graphical interface can map out ventilation net topology, identify heat sources, thermal and aerodynamic physical calculation variables. The project is principally intended to raise mining safety and to make it possible efficiently manage airflow with optimum mine ventilation parameters.

Using a uniform software suite makes it possible to develop and analyze engineering solutions concerning ventilation of remote mine segments; visualize underground fire models, trajectories of combustion products and heat, standard and emergency scenarios, distribution of the airstream and gas residue across mine ventilation networks. A Digital Emergency Response Plan will be developed as well.

The pilot project will first be run at Taimyrsky Mine. Sensors monitoring airflow will be placed in the locations of choice and their readings are going to be displayed on computers running AirNet, which will allow for efficient real-time airflow management.

Polar Division engineers and managers are going through software training. The AirNet rollout starts in 2015.