Cost effective control of a platinum mine cooling system

The platinum mining industry in South Africa faces various challenges. Increasing labour and energy costs as well as dropping commodity prices threaten the sustainability of the industry. Reducing energy usage and cost will aid the sector in remaining profitable. Refrigeration and cooling of mines are, among others, users of large amounts of energy. Implementation of Demand Side Management (DSM) strategies at these cooling systems will aid in both reducing energy usage and improving system efficiency. A background of platinum mine ventilation and cooling systems was covered to determine the required system parameters that must be adhered to. Existing DSM strategies were studied to determine possible shortfalls of the approaches and likely energy savings. The energy efficiency DSM strategies place a focus on average power usage reduction. Load shifting DSM strategies place focus on the shifting of load from the evening peak to off peak periods. A case study was carried out at a platinum mine with appropriate cooling systems and requirements.