Heat and mass transfer during the sump development in a potash solution mine

Abstract

The following report addresses the problem of heating input water during the process of solution mining for potash. With an ever-increasing pressure to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, being able to warm inlet water with underground heat would be an advantage for any solution mining company. The report examines the problem in general to discover whether a temperature of 328K can be reached at the bottom of the mine. A finite difference method was used to simulate the heat transfer within a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, with validation provided by SolidWorks Flow Simulation Software. Varying atmospheric temperature, flow rate and type of blanket fluid were all simulated, however at optimum design the simulation resulted in a temperature of 305.95 K. Although the results suggest that the underground heat source will not be sufficient, the lack of modelling of the heat transfer in the sump of the mine and the lack of data available for the properties of brine means that the results are just the first stage in the analysis of the problem. Further recommendations of how to approach the problem next have been made.