Benchmarking the electricity use of deep-level mine compressors

Numerous energy benchmarking studies have been conducted on systems ranging from commercial to industrial. The focus of these studies was on increasing energy consumption awareness and, in doing so, identifying the need to reduce energy consumption. The objective of this paper is to benchmark the electricity use of deep-level mine compressors in a simple and novel way, that considers relevant external factors and variables. New models were created using data obtained from South African deep-level mines. The models and techniques were verified by using alternative methods. The models were then validated by applying them to the compressor systems of nine case study mines. The results showed that the benchmarking models accurately distinguished between efficient and inefficient mine systems. With the knowledge obtained, awareness of system-specific and overall energy consumption was achieved.