ABSTRACT
Depending on the depth and dip of a given deposit, the ventilation airways may be located very close to the ground surface. This proximity to the ground surface may have significant influence on the thermal regime of the rockmass surrounding the airways.
A mathematical model describing the heat transfer in shallow mine airways has been developed, for analysis of mine thermal regime of the rockmass surrounding an airway. Ground surface temperature variations that result from solar radiation are accounted for in the model.
The results indicate that for openings close to the surface, a combination of the warm ventilation air and the seasonal changes of the ground surface temperature intensifies the heat exchange process. The influence of changing ground surface temperature reduces as a function of the depth of an airway below the ground surface. The ground temperature on the surface above the airway also fluctuates with the same frequency and amplitudes as the atmospheric temperatures. For varying depths between a shallow airway and the ground surface, there are time lags which vary again as a function of depth of the airway.
