Background
Ventilation is a long-term cost underground: every extra diesel machine adds exhaust for the ventilation system to handle. Where grid power is available, more mines are replacing diesel compressors with electric units.
Solution
With grid power underground, the mine switched to large-capacity DMT variable-speed electric units; a dedicated controller reads pressure and humidity and protects against over-pressure, over-temperature and phase faults.
Results
The diesel exhaust source underground was removed and ventilation load fell; the variable-speed drive follows the demand of several faces automatically, avoiding frequent unloading.
