A gold mining company known for its continuous implementation of process improvements, collaborated with Thermax for an energy-efficient and reliable cooling solution.
Costs of cooling at large scale
Heat and humidity are critical issues in mining industry. As heat-loads increase with depth, the temperature in underground mines might reach 45°C, even more in summers. Temperature control is vital for the working conditions of miners, with direct effects on their health, safety and performance. The gold mine had employed ammonia chillers in place to cool the deep mines. With the cooling done on large scale, the associated electricity costs were also huge.
Hence, the company was looking for a complementary system for comfort cooling that would reduce the existing chillers’ electricity consumption. Extensive expertise and wide reputation for sustainable cooling had an energy consultant recommend Thermax for carrying out the mega project in the Australian mine.
Meeting demands with the available heat
Due to the involved energy-intensive operations, the mine has a gas power station on the mine to provide electricity to its premises. Tapping the exhaust heat from the power plant and repurposing it for cooling seemed to be an efficient way of reducing the mine’s energy consumption for comfort cooling.
After detailed analysis, two of Thermax’s exhaust driven absorbers were employed in series with the existing ammonia chillers. The project had to be undertaken in the toughest of conditions in a remote location and under extreme heat (up to 48°C). The chilled water delivered at 5°C was piped to the bulk air cooler, which was then directed to cool the mine shaft. As per the requirement, the absorber was integrated with specific controls and Stainless Steel evaporator tubes were used considering the absorbers’ operation in series with the ammonia chillers.
Cooling in mines
Reducing costs; improving reliability
Complementing the existing cooling system, the absorbers have enabled the mine to achieve spectacular energy savings, by which the payback was achieved ahead of schedule.
In its first collaboration with the Australian mining industry, Thermax has offered its largest absorbers in the country for the gold mine. As a consequence of commissioning the absorbers, the mine has been able to attain its objective of energy optimization. Deployed in conjunction with the ammonia chillers, Thermax absorbers have proved to be an energy-efficient and reliable cooling system even for the toughest of environments.
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