Underground ventilation
What are the challenges of fan condition monitoring in mining?
- Reliable ventilation in mines is decisive for the health and safety of miners. In ventilation systems, uninterrupted fan operation is very important, which is why redundant fans are often used.
- All drives should be provided with safety functions to protect the drive, motor and fans against overload. These protective functions usually trigger the drive and bring it into an alarm state, causing the fan to stop.
- The condition monitoring system from ifm electronic offers various programmable functions that constantly monitor the continuous operation of the fan while the higher-level control system receives a warning signal.
Underground ventilation
Typical sensors for condition monitoring
Vibration sensors, speed sensors, flow sensors, temperature sensors, pressure sensors
Sensor technologies for condition monitoring
Many sensors can detect changes in machine components. Vibration sensors are typically used to monitor rotating machine parts. It is often stated that they can detect mechanical efficiency loss up to two months before the actual defect. Other sensor technologies used in condition monitoring are sensors for speed, pressure, temperature and flow.
These sensors can monitor efficiency loss of mechanical and electric components in rotating installations. They ensure reliable fan operation, even under extreme operating conditions, as well as optimum energy utilisation.
