Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1876-12-23
WHOLE NUMBER, 274.
Advantages Of the Fan as a
Ventilating Power.
FROM THE ANNUAL REPORT OF ANDREW
ROY, STATE INSPECTOR OF MINES, OHIO,
FOR 1S76-ADvANCE SHEET.

1t is now generally conceded by all
intelligent practical men that for
shallow mine Guibal's ventilating fan
is both cheaper and more powerful
ventilator than furnace, and even in
deep mines this fan is fast superseding
the furnace. 1t is the favorite venti-
lating power in Belgium and ether
mining States of Continental Europe.
The mining law Of Belgium prohibits
the use of furnaces for ventilation in
mines which discharge fre-damp, and
within the past ten years the Guibal
fan has been largely adopted in the
fiery mining districts of Great Britain.
The fan varies in size from ten to sixty
feet in diameter. One hundred and
ninety-one of Guibal's fans are now in
use in the following districts in Eng
land, to wit 60 in Northumberland,
Durham and Cumberland; 42 in
Yorkshire and Derbyshire; "a in
Wales and Monmouthshire % in
Statfordshire and Nottingham IL in
the Cleveland district; IA in the
Wigan district 9 in Scotland.
Some of these fans produce two
hundred thousand to two hundred and
forty thousand cubic feet of air per
minute, and the least in power moves
no less than twenty thousand to thirty
thousand feet.
copy the following statement from
The Engineer, an English journal Of
great ability, in reference to the val
ue Of the fan as ventilator
"There now appears to be pretty uni
versal preference for the fan as against the
furnace for efecting the ventilation of
mines. The oldfashioned cupola fire
which is AT the present time in operation
at hundreds ofcollieres in all parts of the
country-has nowadays come to be looked
upon with great deal of suspicion. Many
explosions have inferentially been traced
to the fires thls used underground, and
others have, to all appearance, been caused
in the same manner. Mining engineers
some time ago arrived at the conclusion
that it would be better to discontinue the
use of all underground fires, which are
| practically huge, naked lights, provided
some equally effective mode of ventilation
could be Int upon. With the hour came
the man; the necessity brought forth the
invention. Several fans for the need thus
expressed were invented, and Guibaps par
ticularly met with hearty approval. Al all
the new collieries which have been sunk
in Durham, Yorkshire, Northumberland
and South Wales. the fan has been put
down, and experiments have been most ex-
haustively made the results of which have
amply proved that the fan is equal to the
furnace. Some experiments of this kind
were made last week at the Oaks colliery
of Messrs. Charles Cammell & Co. QimtedD
near Barnsley, where new Guibal fan,
forty feet in diameter by twelve feet in per-
ipheral width, made by Messrs. Davy
Brothers, of Sheffield, has just been erect
ed A number Of mining engineers and
colliery managers were present by invita-
tion, and they were well satisfied that the
fan is not only infinitely safer, but fully as
efficacious as the old furnace. This partic-
ular fan, when the engines were running at
twenty strokes per minute, witlHlrcw
1896 cubic feet of air in the same period;
at thirty strokes, 107 ,s56 cubic feet; and at
forty strokes, 140,G94 cubic feet. In a tab
ulatel form the results and conditions un-
der which they were obtained are as fol-
lows
Fan running Thermom- Water-eaugc Cupic fee.
per misute. eter. lnchcs. per minnie
Strokes 20 49,. II deg. ...... $40 ...... 1921
Strokes 30 -. Il deg. ...... $40 101S5G
Strokes 10 Il deg. .....13-lO ...... 1864
The Oaks its, rs all mining engineers
know, are very fiery, and exude u great
deal of gas"
In shallow and non-6ery mines the
: advantages of the fan over the fur
mace, both in an economic point Of
view and for producing greater flow
of wind, are much greater than in
deep and fiery pits, because the deep
er the pit the greater is tie
ventilating power of the furnace,
while the shallower the pit the great
er ventilating power of the fan.
In the anthracite regions of Penn
sylvania Guibal's fan is coming into
, favor and will before many years dis
place the furnace altogether In the
mining district of Schuylkill, in one
hundred and seventy-one collieries
there are one hundred and twelve
fans in use, eighty eight of which are
in Schuylkill county, fifteen in North
cumberland county, five in Columbia
county, and four in Dauphin county.
In onr own State there is but one
in operation; the furnace being the
favorite power. The advantages of
, the fan consist in its cheapness and
reliability. 1t can be placed over the
up-cast compartment of the hosting