Abstract
In large mines, single fan is usually not enough to ventilate all the working areas. Single mine-fan approach cannot be directly applied to multiple-fan networks because the present of multiple pressures and air quantities associated with each fan in the network. Accordingly, each fan in a multiple-fan system has its own mine characteristic curve, or a subsystem curve. Under some consideration, the conventional concept of a mine characteristic curve of a single-fan system can be directly extended to that of a particular fan within a multiple-fan system. In this paper the mutual effect of the fans on each other and their effect on the stability of the ventilation network were investigated by Hardy Cross algorithm combined with a switching-parameters technique. To show the validity and reliability of this algorithm, the stability of the ventilation system of Abu-Tartur Mine (one of the largest underground mine in Egypt) has been studied.