Blasting produce pollutants such as toxic fumes and dust. In underground development operations, these pollutants are diluted using the auxiliary ventilation system, which can account for up to 50% of the total electricity usage. Accurate prediction of post-blast dilution is critical as overestimation results in production loss, and underestimation results in health and safety risks for the miners. The literature review suggests that most underground mines simply standardize post-blast times based on experiences and observations. There is still a lack of detailed studies on the mechanisms and the efficiency of different ventilation systems. Previous studies have not considered the effect of the type of explosives, humidity, porosity, and muckpile profile on the post-blast dilution time. Understanding how these factors affect the post-blast dilution time is key to optimizing the efficiency of the auxiliary ventilation system. This paper addresses these issues and make the prediction of post-blast dilution time more accurate and realistic. To achieve this objective, we used the CFD techniques to simulate the blast fume dispersion and clearance in an underground development heading. The study results show that the explosives type and muckpile porosity have significant impact on the blast fume dilution time.
