Mine cooling

Whether mines are mining gold, copper or platinum, heat and humidity is always a limiting factor in underground mining operations. The deeper the mine, the higher ambient temperatures of +60°C or more can be. Additional heat from machinery quickly pushes you to the limit of +28°C wet bulb temperature at which working is still possible. Therefore, extremely reliable, robust and efficient cooling is essential. KTI Cold Mine offers solutions that have been developed for use in mining and meet the enormous demands. In order to achieve proper cooling, different solutions can be used, tailored to the requirements of the individual mine. Essentially, there is a choice of three options:

1. Generation of cold water on the surface
2. Generation of ice on the surface
3. Production of cold water in the mine

If a mine reaches a depth of 1500 to 2000 meters, the use of a CTI plate ice plant is an economical and energy-saving solution. Here, the pure circulation of cold water and cooled air reach their limits, as the energy required to pump the heated water back to the surface increases exorbitantly. Likewise, ventilation shafts at such depths are very costly to construct and maintain. The production of slab ice at the surface, which falls into an underground reservoir via a shaft, and the subsequent circulation of the cold meltwater through air coolers underground is more energy efficient than a conventional water cooling system. Due to its enthalpy of fusion, a kilogram of ice can absorb much more heat than a kilogram of cold water. As a result, much less water (in the form of ice) is needed and therefore pumped back. KTI Cold Mine ice plants produce hard slab ice with a residual moisture content of 6-2%. This ensures that as much ice as possible arrives at the mine. Likewise, the plants are redundant to ensure stable operation. Due to the use of ammonia as a natural, environmentally friendly refrigerant, the plants run extremely energy-efficiently.

KTI Cold Mine's Underground Chillers (UC) are specifically designed for underground mining applications where both the evaporator and condenser can handle heavily contaminated water without immediately losing performance or even needing to be cleaned. Likewise, KTI's engineers have taken into account the special requirements of mine operators during development. For example, the shape of the Underground Chiller is designed so that the unit can be easily transported down the mine shaft, where it can then be easily and safely transported to the heat-releasing points. The chiller can be integrated into the mine's cooling system in different ways. On the one hand, the water can be cooled down again and at the same time the already too warm water can be used for further heat dissipation (condensation). Alternatively, water can be circulated in a closed circuit connected to one or more heat exchangers and the air cooled on site (spot cooling).