Document b5qx1mpNZGvxqVw1bnw3o9oNk
AXE FLC.V SURVEY AT COLONIAL KINS AUSTRALIAN BLUE ASBESTOS LTD., V-ITTSIOOH
on I7-19ta November, 1964.
During the 17.16 end 19th Noveaber 1964. en air flow surrey of Che underground workings of the Colcal el Nine, wittenooa wee carried out by asober* of this Depertnent.
The result* of this rurrey, together with oy observations ere reaorded below.
The effective Intake into the underground working* conalsts of 36,000 ouolna being drawn Into tho main edit under the influence of 2 x 60** Rlchardeon axial flow fane, working In
parallel.
The objeat of thle le to drew the air down the mein adit to the Hoe. 5.6,7,8 and. 9 earrlce riaes where It Is upeaated to the ooln levels end thenee up Into tho Nos. 6,7 nd 6 level atopee before being exhausted thru1 cither of the two exhaust fans, one of which la laetalled In 548 and the other at 6158.
Ventilation door* axe Installed In all the turnouts off
the
adit, to the Ho. 5 level turnout, to prevent air being
drawn off at these points. However, due to Ineffective sealing
of the doore, ther*.is mm leakage, at. these, points.
Fg> 5 Iml
Intake to the Ho. 5 level off the Main Adit ccneleta of
4.800 oualne. Thle flow le upcast to tho upper aeaa workings thru' the Vos. 50, 518 end 588 Manways. Share is also s veluoe of epproxlmtely 3.000 cualns enters tbs Ho. 5 level thru' the door In the Ho. 5 edit below the Ho. 4 level. Ibis is drawn in thru* the Bo. 4 level edit and la upcast to the i^per aeaa vcrfeiags ad thru* Ho. 528 M/way.
Ho--6 level
The intake into this level consists of 14.500 upoaet fro* the aeia edit, plus 3,000 cumins downcast froa the upper eeu workings thru1 the 6X8 - 648 M/weye. Both of thoee Volumes ere induced under the influence of a 16* .7. situated jSjt the top of the Ho. 6 level 8errice Bias. All of this air is
upeaated to the upper seed workings thru1 the Berth end North Vest Ueasaye.
There is else 3.000 mains of air downcasting thru'
Ho. 658 aaaaey to Ho. 6 level which flow* south under the of the Main Sxhauat Tans. This is increased to
approxlaetely 10,000 onains by further demoeating thru' the Roe. 668, 69* and 6108 asneaye end is dram thru' the two ventilation doers, in the 6118 area to the aala exhaust fans.
ths
Wo. 7 level
The aaount of air entering the Ho. 7 level consists of 10,000 euain* upcast thro the service rise frea the asm adit, plus 1,000 eualne downcast thru the 718 mnway and 2000 cualns downcast thru the Ho. 70 Manasy frua ths upper seaa working*. t*< fig* again peaeas North md is dispersed upwards thru the North end North West Kaswayw into the upper sees workings.
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There is also a downcast flow of 9,000 cumins from the 73S and 743 manways which goes west down tha No* 3 adit and joins tbs flow to the main exhaust fans f roa No. 6 level.
r?o. _3 level
f-
A volume of 4,000 cumins is upcaated from the main adit
thru' the service rise, this la joined toy a flow of 2,000 cumins
coming up the No. 6 adit from No. 9 level id the combined volume
of 6,000 cumins flows south to the No. 3 adit being added to by a
strong downcast flow of 3,000 cumins from tha 613 manway and
2,000 cumins from the 62S manway wiring a total of 11-12*000
cumins at tha junction of the No. 3 adit where it joins a flow
of 3,5000 cumins
up the No. 3 adit from 9 level.
At this juncture there la approximately 30y35t^00 cumins flow south along 6 level towards No. 5 edit, md this total la mads up from tha following 1-
Sntsrlng No. 6 level via No. 3 adit from 7 level
10,000 cumins.
"
No. 8 "
" No. 3 " from 9 level
4*000 cumins.
South along 8 level from north of No. 3 adit
12,000 cumins.
Downcast to 6 level free 838 nanny - 6,000 cumins.
Appro*. - 32,000 <wrains.
Os flow along Xo. 8 level Is also boosted m by the
time it raaobse No. 5 edit by further lownessting fras tha uppers
eaawortclnge thru* Xo* 643 wanway (appro*. 13,000 eumlne) end
No* 85s Banway <7*000 cumins), this flew la than exhausted up
the Xo. 5 edit to Xo* 7 level where It is joined by a further flow
of approximately 8*000 eumlas* which Is
y thru* the
ventilation deers cn 7 level. there la else e very streng leakage
downcast to the Xo. 7 level thxu* the Xoa* 76S end 788 eanwaya
and the airflow entering the adit at 798 on 7 level has been
built up from approximately 60*000 onetna to ^prcodiwtely
90*000 cumin*. At the Junction with Xo. 6 lavwl* the mala flow
is joined by e streng leakage thru' the ventilation doors on
Xo* 6 level and then the flow la split Oder the laflasnoe of tha
two mala exhaust fans*
60*000
are -- to the surfsoe thru' the
60" Slchaxdecn axial How- fan situated at 548 on 5 level* whilst
the remaining 35*000
la eachsastad south along Xo* 6 level
thru1 the 60* Sloherdeou axial flow fan situated in the south
drive. The flow along 6 level builds up to ^pmrfstoly 42*000
eumlas by the tine It reaches the fan due to farther doneeeting
thru' the brattices 00 the manways in the 6 level south drive.
There le also e recirculation of sowo 11*000
thru1 .the
exhaust fan due to the leakage thru* the brattles in the drive
aicngslde the fan* making a total fan output of approximately
53*000 cualna.
"* CaaaliiaeaMi
Dm results of this airflow show that thers la a considssahls mount of sbort-oireuitlng of air through tha two exhauet fans. The measured volume "of At entering the mine* utf hones ventilating the worttlnge* Is 36*000 onalne.
Whereas the total volume of sir measured aa paaaing
thru* the two exhaust fans la 103.00Q cumins.
\mada up from (a) ' \at thru* fan at 548 * 60*000 eumlna
^ sat thru* fan at
rel South Drive
<i:QQQ eumlne.
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'xls short-circuited air enters the upper seaa workings free the openings to the ollff face at the Nos, 1,2 and 3 levels. There It oan he seen that the brattices, which were previously In position in those sections, have since been blown out. There is also s possible entry point' near section 123.
The air entering from the cliff face novas down through the old upper seen workings to the Nos. 6 and 7 levels and Herrs directly to the two exhaust fane, ventilating very few of the current working plaoes enroate. On an effective basis therefore, it can easily be seen that if the measured volume of the two exhaust fans is 103,000 cumins, whilst the measured intake thru' thh main adit is cnly 36,000 cumins, tbs exhaust fans are theoretically working with an efficiency of only 355* effective airflow, based aa the fact that the only effective airflow la that which la ventilating the workings via the main adit.
To overcome this snd to increase the Intake thru' the main adit It will first be necessai7 to effectively seal off all openings around ths cliff face caused by the recent csve in. To date s programme of brattlclag in the old workings and installation of ventilation doors on the levels hse been carried out, but the pressures exerted an these brattices snd doors by the airflows entering the old workings has nullified this progress to a great extant. During the eourte of our airflow survey, we measured volumes of up to 10,000 cumins passing thru' these ventilation doors, snd also volumes of up to 3-4,000 cumins. 1asking thru* sons of ths brsttlces* If the cliff face, could be bcwttlced off then the brsttlces snd doors already installed should be capable of doing ths job they were intended for.
It was also apparent, rom our survey, that tbs primary airflow moat be aitared to Improve ths flow taunt' ths northern sections of the mine.
(1) Openings to cliff faces to be effectively seeled. might require timber or catenate bulks,
This
(2) Ventilation door in the V 3 adit, Just above Mo* 5 level,
should be ro-fclmged ao that the door opens upwards on ths top side of ths doorway,
(3) Ccmpressod air-cylinder ecntrol jacks to be installed cn ventilation doors cn Mo, 6 level to facilitate correct opening and closing of doors by truokare,
(4) All ventilation doors snd brattices already la position to be reconditioned snd resesled,
(5) Large fan to be Installed on north side of mine workings,
preferably on Me, 8, or disn more topes are eaansotsd betvsan the Mo, 8 level and Mo. 9 level, cn Mo, 9 level, to Increase the volume of At being distributed throughout this section of the workings,
(6) Consideration be given to the ecnetruetlon. of a ventilation shaft to oome bstwscn the Mo, 8 - Vo, 9 levels md just outside the northern ore limits. This shaft is going to be essential la ths future wham ths alas la deepened down towards Moa, 10 and 11 levels. Ventilation ecneotlens can be made to this shaft from the stops seams with smell drives at neeaseaiy intervals, sad slso
from ths levels the--elves.
It eaa be expected that ths section of ths mlas above
7 level will be corked oat within e few years and there is slso
the possibility of further collapses to be considered In the area of Me. 6 level, therefore it would be advisable to start
awning *uch s ventilation shaft Immediately,
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under the present primary airflow system, there is am insufficient volume of air ventilating the northern aeotlon of ttie workings and with both exhaust fana ao closely positioned to each other in the south section of the sine, the primary airflow is tending to be unbalanced. Therefore, that Is why I consider that the Immediate installation of a 3rd primary air ten In the northern auction, followed at a later stage by the ccnstruction of new ventilation shaft* is necessary.
This would provide a very simple layout for two possible primary airflows. The main Intake down the sain adit, being dram off from the lovror sections of the vorhlngo and two exhaust airways one la the south and one in the north.
A fan* similar In slse to the ^pe already installed at 543 and 6 level south drive, would be sufficient for the new Installation*
SPECIAL INSPECTOR OP EIKSS. ' (VentllatloO
State Mining Engineer, Ulnae Department, PERTH.
Forwarded for your Information.
SENIOR INSSCTOR OF KIKES