Displeasure in respect to air volumes and associated airflow velocities are well-documented complaints in underground mines. The complaints often differ in the form that there is too little airflow velocity or too much. In hot and humid climates such as those prevailing in many underground mines, convection heat transfer is the major mode of heat rejection from the human body, through the process of sweat evaporation. Consequently, the motion of the mine air plays a pivotal role in aiding this process. In this paper, a method was developed and adopted in the form of a “comfort model” to predict the optimum airflow velocity required to maintain heat comfort for the underground workforce at different activity levels (e.g. metabolic rates). Simulation analysis predicted comfort limits in the form of required sweat rate and maximum skin wetness. Tolerable worker heat exposure times were also predicted in order to minimize thermal strain due to dehydration. The results indicate that an airflow velocity in the range of 1–2 m/s is the ideal velocity in order to provide a stress/strain free climate and also guarantee thermal comfort for the workers. Therefore, an optimal airflow velocity of 1.5 m/s for the miners' thermal comfort is suggested

There has been a global effort in the past decade, especially in major coal-producing countries, toward understanding the mechanics involved in the stability of coal mine ribs. Buckling and spalling of mine ribs are known to have an impact on their stability and degradation. The generation, propagation, and coalescence of cracks in mine pillar ribs are significantly affected by the overburden depths. In addition, the in situ stress magnitudes tend to affect the rib damage process. High horizontal stresses and increased depths can lead to unfavorable stress conditions, inducing coal mass damage and strength loss. Understanding the dynamics involved in rib behavior will inform better rib control practices. This study intended to assess the effect of mining depth, mining height, and supports on coal mine rib stability. In this research, the response of the coal mass was studied using distinct element modeling to better understand the failure process of coal mine ribs. The study confirmed mining depth as a significant factor controlling the rib loading and failure mechanism. In addition, increased mining heights increased the rib deformation and failure process. The evaluated support effect revealed that at shallower depths, shorter bolt lengths are sufficient to control rib stability. Increasing the bolt length for depths greater than 250 m is in order, but higher depths do not correlate with longer supports. The approach used in this study demonstrated its capacity to be used in designing rib support requirements and understanding coal mass and support mechanisms.