Compressed air is a useful ingredient in many industries, useful…
How Air Compressor Is Useful For The Mining Industry
Mining is an extensive industry that spans almost all over the world, with a direct focus on a vast number of different natural resources. Since underground mines are known to stretch for miles below the Earth’s surface, they pose various obstacles in the quest to obtain efficiency in resource extraction and security for the work crew. Contemporary mining procedures depend on improvements in the safety equipment, along with the aspect of minimising negative impacts on the surrounding natural habitat.
Compressed air is generally employed as a means of an energy source quite often in the field of mining due to its flexibility over the use of diesel or electric power in underground locations. Nevertheless, applications of low capacity, like drilling short holes and wrenches or saws, which are basically pumping and pneumatic tools are used with compressed air systems on sites.
Choosing the best air compressor for mining industry that is fabricated to tolerate the wear and tear of mining, and also live up to the demands of long term continued use is the baseline of all these discussions. Depending on the requisite resources, compressed air requirements may vary in mining applications.
Mining Applications for Compressed Air
The mining applications requiring compressed air are listed here:
- Pneumatic Tools – Compressed air acts as an exceptional source of energy for a wide range of power tools like drills, hack saws, wrenches and other essential mining equipment that are deployed for heavy use in the deep underground areas of the mines.
- Blasting – Blasting of rocks and other materials can be done through the controlled use of compressed air. This enables safer mediums in blasting operations. High velocity compressed air streams are used to set off explosives in mine fields.
- Drilling – In the cases of drilling equipment usage, compressed air is used to power a rotating drill bit that also serves the purpose of a jackhammer.
- Cleaning – Compressed air comes to the rescue when the event of purging unwanted particles from filters and other spaces arises. There is way too much dirt and dust in mining operation areas where this pure source of air can be effectively used for cleaning purposes without having to bring up additional cleaning materials. This process ensures increased longevity of high-priority mining machinery, and henceforth, helps to reduce any unnecessary downtime requiring maintenance breaks.
- Ventilation Systems – Compressed air has been long known to provide ventilation to immensely deep mine tunnels. It is known to be the safest and most breathable air source that is used in hazardous underground mining environments. Apart from this, displacement blowers also make use of compressed air systems for the purpose of ventilation. For example, in coal mining, displacement blowers that are deployed on site are used to provide the air ventilation that is necessary in mining sites.
- Smelting and Refining – The pure form of metal is extracted from ores through the intrinsic process of melting and heating. This highly systematic and controlled procedure takes place in processing/smelting plants located near mining operation sites that involve air compressors and compressed air systems throughout the entirety of the process. Refining, on the other hand, is the procedure through which the purity/grade of metals extracted from ores and other raw materials are increased. During the refinement process, compressed air facilitates oxidation of any additional alloys in order to prevent wastage of any material.
- Methane Gas Extraction – The build up of methane gas in a mine is quite an usual phenomenon but it can be very lethal. The risk of even a tiny static electric spark igniting methane is very dangerous for miners – just like breathing in the gas too. Compressed air systems that are strategically fitted and fabricated for use in hazardous environments can be used to extract the gas from those tight spots with the help of blowers and vacuum pumps in the scenario of coal mining operations.
- Material handling – Substances like coal dust, when mixed with compressed air, leads to fluidisation – allowing better handling of that material. Along with this, compressed air is also used for conveying material in the field of mining.
As we have seen, air compressor(s) for mining industry have plenty of applications that are very essential for systematic work and also to safeguard the operational procedures and the health of the miners. Zentech Systems & Solutions is one of the leading air compressor suppliers offering a wide range of air compressors and assorted accessories along with end-to-end consultation and solutions at the most competitive prices for all your industrial applications.
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