Determination of the friction factors in potash mines

Abstract

The friction factor is an essential parameter to take into account for modelling the ventilation system. One of the principal features that define the friction factor is the roughness, which not only does it have influence on the airway resistance, but it has also a direct bearing on the rate of heat transfer between the rock and the airstream. In this paper, the characteristic friction factors of a potash mine exploited using a room and pillar method has been determined by means of the Chezy-Darcy and Atkinson equations. The results give an impulse to achieve standardized friction factor values in potash mines very useful for future mining ventilation surveys.