Ventilation on demand for improving viability of underground mines in India.

India is striving hard to meet its energy and mineral needs for maintaining desired pace of development. This has led to pressure on boosting the production from mines. Unfortunately this growth was lopsided as almost all the growth in production was from opencast mines which was mainly due to obvious reason of availability of easy and shallow deposits. This may result in a sharp fa ll in production after the shallow deposits are exhausted. It is therefore desirable to increase the share of underground production by improving its financial viability so that the share of underground mines increases and a sustained production can be ensured. Providing fresh air to a working place at deep and remote place is a cost intensive process accounting for as much as 50% total energy consumption o f the mine. This paper presents a case for introduction of ventilation on demand (VOD) in Indian mines for improving the energy efficiency o f ventilation system of underground mines. The paper describes its essential component of VOD system, continuous airflow measuring system and its suitability for Indian mines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]