OPTIMIZATION OF AUXILIARY FAN PLACEMENT TO ELIMINATE POTENTIAL AIR RECIRCULATION IN DECLINE DEVELOPMENT OF UNDERGROUND GOLD MINE USING COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS

• Main Author: Rafi Arundaya, Muhammad
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/85381
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

This study aims to optimize the placement of auxiliary fans to ensure that no air recirculation occurs in an underground gold mine using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The objectives are to find the optimal fan location, analyze the effective duct length, and assess the percentage of air recirculation based on variations in the fresh air duct length. Secondary data on air velocity measurements from PT XYZ were used, showing clean air velocity at 2,27 m/s and dirty air velocity at 2,16 m/s. The total pressures of the fresh air forcing fan and return air forcing fans were obtained from modeling in Ventsim 6.0 software, with total fresh air forcing fan pressures of 2.149 Pa and 2.067 Pa for the left and right fans, respectively. The total pressures for the left, middle, and right return air forcing fans were 1.917 Pa, 1.498 Pa, and 1.899 Pa, respectively. Variations in fresh air duct length from 0 to 6 meters were used in this study. The results showed a significant reduction in air recirculation with increasing fresh air duct length from the initial position. Air recirculation was 34% at 0 meters, decreasing to 26% at 1 meter, 16% at 2 meters, and reaching 0% at 6 meters. In conclusion, positioning the fresh air duct at 6 meters is the minimal optimal placement to completely eliminate air recirculation and ensure that the drawn air is clean.