In the current situation of the energy crisis, the mining industry has been identified as a promising areafor application of demand side management (DSM) techniques. This paper investigates the potential forenergy-cost savings and actual energy savings, by implementation of variable speed drives to ventilationfans in underground mines. In particular, ventilation on demand is considered in the study, i.e., air volumeis adjusted according to the demand at varying times. Two DSM strategies, energy efficiency (EE)and load management (LM), are formulated and analysed. By modelling the network with the aid ofKirchhoff’s laws and Tellegen’s theorem, a nonlinear constrained minimization model is developed, withthe objective of achieving EE. The model is also made to adhere to the fan laws, such that the fan power atits operating points is found to achieve realistic results. LM is achieved by finding the optimal startingtime of the mining schedule, according to the time of use (TOU) tariff. A case study is shown to demonstratethe effects of the optimization model. The study suggests that by combining load shifting and energyefficiency techniques, an annual energy saving of 2540035 kW h is possible, leading to an annual costsaving of USD 277035.
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