Diesel generator exhaust heat recovery fully-coupled with intake air heating for off-grid mining operations: An experimental, numerical, and analytical evaluation

The customarily discarded exhaust from the fossil fuel-based power plants of the off-grid mines holds the thermal potential to fulfill the heating requirement of the underground operation. This present research fills in an important research gap by investigating the coupling effect between a diesel exhaust heat recovery and an intake air heating system employed in a remote mine. An integrative approach comprising analytical, numerical, and experimental assessment has been adapted. The novel analytical model developed here establishes the reliability of the proposed mine heating system by providing comparative analysis between a coupled and a decoupled system. The effect of working fluid variation has been examined by the numerical analysis and the possible improvement has been identified. Experimental investigations present a demonstration of the successful lab-scale implementation of the concept and validate the numerical and analytical models developed. Successful deployment of the fully coupled mine heating system proposed here will assist the mining industry on its journey towards energy-efficient, and sustainable mining practices through nearly 70% reduction in fossil fuel consumption for heating intentions.