Mine aerology as one of the sections of mining science is developing in strict accordance with the progress in the field of technology and technique of mining, and, since in some cases the issues of aerology and technology are interrelated, changes in the technological process will require new solutions in the field of aerology. ...

Normal sanitary and hygienic working conditions in deep open pits are created by artificial ventilation, which dilutes and removes harmful vapours and gases generated by internal combustion engines and diesel engines, gaseous products of explosive decomposition of explosives, and harmful dust. The urgent need for artificial ventilation arises when the entire volume of the open pit or its deepest parts are filled with harmful substances during inversions, as well as when local accumulations of harmful impurities occur (for example, dust contamination of the atmosphere during bench drilling).

The study of ventilation of blind headings, chambers, longwall faces and other workings after blasting of shot holes using models allows obtaining not only a qualitative characteristic of the process, but also the quantitative relationships necessary for calculations ...

During the operation of mines, there is a need for depression surveys and ventilation surveys, during which the following are measured: the total fan air quantity, the amount of air entering the mine, air leaks, the amount of air reaching the stoping and development faces, depression of individual air currents, sections and the mine as a whole, and other ventilation parameters. As a result of the survey, measures should be outlined to improve the ventilation of the mine, including reducing air leaks.

In mine shafts, unlike other mine workings, the ventilation resistance of which is caused by the roughness of the walls, the resistance is created not only by the shaft walls, but also by the reinforcement located directly in the free cross-section of the air flow moving along the shaft.

The flow rate of mine main ventilation fans is spent on ventilation of all stoping and development faces ∑Qz; on short circuits arising between the fan channel and the outside atmosphere – external leakages; on countless short circuits arising in underground workings through leakages in ventilation structures, coal pillars and mined-out space – internal leakages, as well as on ventilation of machine and other chambers that need separate ventilation.

In 1957, Alexander M. Alamsky, a prominent specialist in the field of mining, an indefatigable researcher and a talented teacher, associate professor of the Drilling and Blasting Department of the Leningrad Mining Institute, candidate of technical sciences, passed away. He was born in 1900 in the town of Atkarsk, Saratov province. He was educated in a real school, Saratov University (two courses), Saratov Polytechnic Institute and, finally, in 1928 Alexander Mikhailovich graduated from the Leningrad Mining Institute, specializing in the development of ore deposits.

Until recently, the micromanometer and Pitot tube were used only by a few, relatively few research institutes dealing with ventilation issues, but now these instruments are finding increasing application in mines and pits of the Soviet Union for solving various practical problems, such as: identifying ventilation "bottlenecks" by measuring the static pressure drop along a section of a working where a large pressure loss occurs; determining the total and static head of mine fans; determining friction coefficients or local resistances of particular mine workings of interest to the mine. The author has set himself the task, in a brief article, of providing a sufficiently detailed analysis of the operation of the micromanometer in conjunction with the Pitot tube for various cases encountered in practice. In conclusion, the consequences of measuring total vacuum instead of static vacuum when testing fans should be pointed out. When designing mine ventilation, the fan delivery and the (static) depression of the mine are determined. Then a fan type is selected based on individual fan characteristics. If the static head is measured incorrectly during fan testing, its characteristic will show an increased static head by the amount of the velocity head at the Pitot tube location, and instead of the required fan with capacity Q at static head h, we will select a fan with capacity Q at static head h – a, where a is the velocity head, which can reach 15–20 mm. Consequently, the fan we select will give a delivery at a lower depression.