Synergy Automatics · Industrial IoT
Ventilation-on-Demand
Adjust auxiliary ventilation according to occupancy, diesel activity, gas conditions and production demand while preserving minimum safe airflow.
What this connected-mine application does
Adjust auxiliary ventilation according to occupancy, diesel activity, gas conditions and production demand while preserving minimum safe airflow.
The practical objective is not simply to collect more data. It is to establish a trustworthy measurement chain, detect abnormal conditions, preserve the relevant operating context and route information to the team that can act on it.
- Personnel and vehicle presence
- Gas and air-quality readings
- Airflow and pressure
- Fan speed and damper position
- Production equipment state
- Energy, runtime and control availability
| Primary field devices | Presence or tracking system interface; Gas and airflow sensors; Variable-speed drive and damper actuators; Local PLC with safe fallback logic; Supervisory optimisation platform |
|---|---|
| Data update pattern | Event-driven alarms with periodic telemetry. Critical events should be timestamped and transmitted immediately where the communications design permits. |
| Connectivity options | Industrial Ethernet, fibre, Wi-Fi, leaky-feeder, LoRaWAN or private LTE/5G as site conditions permit. |
| Alarm and analytics | Override to safe ventilation on gas alarm, sensor fault, communications loss, unexpected occupancy or failed actuator. |
| Common integration | Common interfaces include dry contacts, 4–20 mA, Modbus RTU/TCP, OPC UA, EtherNet/IP, CAN/J1939, MQTT, SNMP or REST APIs where supported by the source equipment. |
| Data continuity | Timestamp at the edge, monitor signal quality and device health, and use store-and-forward buffering so short network outages do not create silent data gaps. |
| Environmental design | Use mine-suitable enclosures, protected cabling and glands, appropriate ingress/impact resistance, and certified equipment wherever the hazardous-area classification requires it. |
A five-layer implementation pattern
Measure
Approved sensors and machine interfaces capture the required physical or operating state.
Control locally
Existing PLCs, protection and safety systems retain their required local authority.
Acquire at edge
A rugged gateway timestamps, buffers, normalises and validates incoming data.
Transmit securely
Mine communications carry telemetry and alarms with health and quality monitoring.
Visualise and integrate
Dashboards, historians and APIs support response, maintenance and reporting.
Where the solution can be applied
- Development districts
- Ramp and haulage routes
- Workshops and remote headings
- Multi-level auxiliary ventilation networks
Potential benefits
- Reduced fan energy consumption
- Air delivered where activity occurs
- Better visibility of ventilation demand
- Automated response to changing operations
- Performance data for network optimisation
Design details that determine success
- Minimum and emergency ventilation rules override optimisation
- Local PLC must fall back safely on data or network loss
- Model response time and contaminant clearance
- Commission by ventilation engineers with staged validation
Override to safe ventilation on gas alarm, sensor fault, communications loss, unexpected occupancy or failed actuator. Dashboard alerts, remote notifications and analytics should complement—not replace—certified protection, local interlocks, emergency procedures, statutory inspections and competent decision-making.
Continue exploring the connected mine
Implementation questions
Can Ventilation-on-Demand connect to existing PLC, SCADA or mine systems?
Usually, yes. The preferred approach is to reuse approved source data and add isolated field instrumentation only where required. The final interface depends on available protocols, network segregation, data ownership and the source equipment vendor.
Does the IoT layer replace local protection or safety controls?
No. Protection relays, safety PLCs, emergency stops, gas trips, fire systems and other approved local functions remain the primary safety and control layer. IoT adds visibility, history, notifications and decision support.
What happens when underground communications are interrupted?
Critical local functions continue independently. A suitable edge gateway buffers timestamped data, raises a communications-health alarm and forwards retained records after the connection returns.
How are sensors and alarm levels selected?
Selection starts with the mine risk assessment, required decision, environmental classification, measuring range, response time, maintainability and applicable rules. Alarm and trip levels must be approved for the specific site and jurisdiction.
Discuss Ventilation-on-Demand
Discuss field instrumentation, edge connectivity, dashboards and integration with the Synergy Automatics team.
Engineering note: Instrument selection, hazardous-area certification, alarm limits, interlocks and network architecture must be validated against the mine risk assessment, applicable legislation, equipment approvals and site operating procedures.