Stripper – A Computer Program For The Analysis of The Effectiveness of Chilled Water Pipe Insulation

The deep South African gold mines rely on refrigeration to provide a safe working environment. Chilled water, which is produced in large central refrigeration plants, is distributed throughout mines In insulated pipes. In view of the high cost of the insulation materials and recent regulations which prohibit the use of certain insulation materials, a careful examination of the actual benefits of insulating chilled water pipes was undertaken. The objective of the investigation was to produce general guidelines regarding the use of insulation, but the results of numerous studies have shown that the use of insulation is extremely site specific and thus no general guidelines can be given. To assist ventilation engineers with studies on insulation requirements for their cooling systems a computer program has been developed. This paper describes the personal computer program which contains the same user friendly interface as developed for other COMRO programs. Is fully menu driven and incorporates a comprehensive HELP facility which provides background information and assistance with the selection of input data. The effects on the ventilation air and chilled water temperatures from not insulating chilled water pipes in certain areas are calculated. Air leakage, heat flow from the surrounding rock to the ventilation air and heat flow from the ventilation air to the water flowing in chilled water pipes are taken into account. A simple cooling system is considered in which cold water is distributed over a distance of 1 000 m through pipes to a single air cooler. The influences of changes in the temperature of the chilled water and ventilation air, as well as air leakage on the insulation requirements are determined.