Analysis of flow patterns in drivages with auxiliary ventilation

Increasing use is being made of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models i n the study of a range of subsurface ventilation problems. To validate the results produced by these models it is necessary to correlate them with dat a obtained from experiments at full or reduced scale. The results of a seri es of experiments that were conducted in the laboratory with a one-tenth sc ale model of a heading with forced auxiliary ventilation are presented. A s heet of laser light was employed to enable visualization of the general flo w field structure and qualitative point measurements were obtained by laser Doppler anemometry. The experimental results were compared with the predic tions obtained from a CFD model constructed with the use of a commercial co de, Fluent version 4.3. The CFD model predictions provided good qualitative representations of the now regime and in some areas of the now field the m odels were able to produce a quantitative measure of the now regime. The co mparative accuracy of three CFD turbulence flow models is discussed.