Assessment of the Impact of Electromobility on Ventilation and Fire Behavior in Chilean Underground Mining

Abstract

The transition to battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in underground mining offers an opportunity to eliminate direct combustion emissions and optimize ventilation, but it introduces new challenges for emergency management and operational safety. This study assesses the impact of that transition on ventilation requirements and on the fire behavior of mining equipment. Air demand was compared between equivalent diesel and electric fleets of load-haul-dump units and trucks, and fire scenarios were modeled through computational ventilation simulation. Thermal failure events in lithium-ion batteries of loading, haulage, and charging infrastructure were analyzed using heat release rate curves whose magnitude was computed from the declared fire load of each unit and whose temporal structure was taken from full-scale tests reported in the technical literature, and the Chilean regulatory framework was reviewed and compared with relevant international regulations, standards, and guidelines applicable to ventilation and emergencies. The results show a reduction in the unit airflow requirement for most of the BEV equipment evaluated, while acceptable thermal conditions are maintained under the modeled scenario. However, the fire simulations generate high concentrations of toxic gases, particularly carbon monoxide and hydrogen fluoride, which compromise habitability and evacuation. Gaps in the Chilean regulatory framework are also identified in ventilation criteria for electric fleets, charging and battery-swapping stations, gas monitoring, and emergency strategies. These results provide the technical criteria for the design of safe and sustainable electrified underground mines in Chile, while offering insights that may also be relevant to other mining jurisdictions undergoing similar transitions.