The 16th North American Mine Ventilation Symposium is pleased to offer several short courses immediately prior to the conference. Complete information about all of the courses is available as a PDF document that can be downloaded. Download...
Schedule for all courses
8:00 am Check-in and continental breakfast
8:30 am Course begins
Registration
The registration fee for each course is $ 200 (USD). The fee includes handouts, continental breakfast, lunch, and refreshments at breaks.
Registration Deadline for Short Courses and Workshops: June 3, 2017
Note: Attendance of the short courses is available only to those who register for the 16th North American Mine Ventilation Symposium. A short course may be canceled if enrollment is insufficient.
Note: Each short course is a full day in duration; therefore, each registrant can attend only ONE short course per day.
Saturday, June 17, 2017
Course A
BBE Refrigeration: Guidelines for Determining Cooling Requirements and Selecting Equipment in Cooling Systems
Presented by: Rudolph Janse van Vuuren and Stephen Hardcastle
Mines in North America are getting deeper and are using more equipment, resulting in warmer temperatures in working places. This additional heat can be combatted by more air but beyond a critical threshold the air will act as a heat source and sending more and more air underground will not assist in lowering temperatures. Beyond this depth the air can be used as a carrier of mechanical cooling. Practical methodologies for determining cooling requirements and optimising distribution systems have become available in recent years. The course will outline some of these and the procedures to ensure that cost effective systems are design and implemented at the right time in the mine's life.
Course B
Project Improvement through Ventilation Cost Analysis and Design
Presented by: Craig Stewart from Chasm Consulting / Ventsim™ Software
Mine ventilation has easily identifiable direct costs such as power, fan purchases and mining infrastructure. However, the indirect costs of ventilation through poor design, bad environmental working conditions, and lost productivity and safety often has implications greater than the direct costs combined. In addition, mine ventilation is often relegated to the rear of mine project and feasibility studies, whereas it should be considered integral to everything from planning design, mining methods and ore transport method selections, all of which have a direct effect on mine ventilation costs and effectiveness. This course will use ventilation modelling to analyze a number of fictitious case studies to show how these costs can be measured and used to help justify improved ventilation infrastructure, design or systems. This course will use ventilation modelling to analyze a number of fictitious case studies to show how these costs can be measured and used to help justify improved ventilation infrastructure, design or systems. Attendees are encouraged to bring laptops and will be provided with a Ventsim™ training license for the workshop.
Course C
Development of a Principal Mining Hazard Management Plan for Spontaneous Combustion
Presented by: Basil Beamish, B3 Mining Services Pty Ltd
The purpose of this short course is to update participants on the major elements required to develop an effective principal mining hazard management plan for spontaneous combustion. This will include examples of the most recent techniques used for spontaneous combustion hazard assessment and how these are used to recognise the stages of spontaneous combustion development for a specific mine site situation. Case studies will be presented from recent mine site experience. The course will cover four major topic areas: Spontaneous Combustion Processes and Mechanisms, Spontaneous Combustion Hazard Assessment, Elements of a Principal Mining Hazard Management Plan, and Trigger Action Response Plans.
Sunday, June 18, 2017
Course D
Control Strategies And Technologies For Reducing Exposure Of Underground Miners To Particulate Matter And Gases Emitted By Diesel-Powered Equipment
Presented by: Dr. Aleksandar Bugarski, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Pittsburgh Mining Research Division (PMRD), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.; Dr. Jozef Stachulak, MIRARCO Mining Innovation, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada; Arash Habibi, Tronox, Green River, Wyoming, U.S.A.
The course will provide lectures and forum for discussion on various topic related to the efforts on reducing risks associated with exposure of workers in underground mines to particulate matter and gases emitted by diesel-powered equipment. The course is intended for mine health and safety professionals involved in various aspects of multifaceted and integrated efforts on curtailing diesel emissions and reducing exposures to diesel aerosols. The focus will be on advancements in technologies and strategies used to curtail diesel emissions at their source including retrofit type exhaust after treatment devices, advanced engines, and alternative fuels. The course would provide insight into the ongoing projects in the U.S. and Canada. The course should help underground operations to develop and support practical mine-specific programs to reduce miners' exposure to diesel aerosols and gases.
Course E
Fans and Fan Systems
Presented by: Kevin Lownie and Glenn Savage of Howden
The purpose of this one day course is to provide ventilation engineers with a sound understanding of how fans work and how they function within a ventilation system. The course content broadly covers: geometric similarity, viscosity, Reynolds Number, boundary layer, basic aerofoils, impeller stall, surge and stall, parallel operation of fans and system stability, understanding fan performance characteristics, relating mine ventilation duty to fan performance, in situ fan testing and compliance assessment, rotor dynamics and fan foundations, fan performance and reliability.
Course F
Ventilation Modeling Mistakes, Missteps, and Results
Presented by: Brian Prosser and John Bowling of Mine Ventilation Services
The course will discuss common mistakes that are made when developing ventilation models and conducting ventilation investigations. The class will start with the reasons for conducting a ventilation study with computer models. This will include discussion on how ventilation models are useful for the study of systems, and what are the model limitations. It is important for engineers to be able to make adequate and educated assumptions when developing a design strategy based on modeling.