In subterranean civil engineering, ventilation shafts, also known as airshafts or vent shafts, are vertical passages used in mines

Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

 and tunnel

Tunnel

A tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...

s to move fresh air underground, and to remove stale air.

In architecture

Architecture

Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...

, an airshaft is a small, vertical space within a tall building which permits ventilation of the building's interior spaces to the outside. The floorplan of a building with an airshaft is often described as a "square donut

DONUT

DONUT was an experiment at Fermilab dedicated to the search for tau neutrino interactions. Even though the detector operated only during a few months in the summer of 1997, it was largely successful. By detecting the tau neutrino, it confirmed the existence of the last lepton predicted by the...

" shape. Alternatively, an airshaft may be formed between two adjacent buildings. Windows on the interior side of the donut allow air from the building to be exhausted into the shaft, and, depending on the height and width of the shaft, may also allow extra sunlight

Sunlight

Sunlight, in the broad sense, is the total frequency spectrum of electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun. On Earth, sunlight is filtered through the Earth's atmosphere, and solar radiation is obvious as daylight when the Sun is above the horizon.When the direct solar radiation is not blocked...

 inside.

See also

• Ventilation (architecture)
  Ventilation (architecture)
  Ventilating is the process of "changing" or replacing air in any space to provide high indoor air quality...
  
  
• Underground mine ventilation
  Underground mine ventilation
  Underground mine ventilation provides a flow of air to the underground workings of a mine of sufficient volume to dilute and remove noxious gases . The source of these gases are equipment that runs on diesel engines, blasting with explosives, and the orebody itself...
  
  
• Courtyard
  Courtyard
  A court or courtyard is an enclosed area, often a space enclosed by a building that is open to the sky. These areas in inns and public buildings were often the primary meeting places for some purposes, leading to the other meanings of court....
  
  
• Lightwell
  Lightwell
  In architecture a lightwell, light well or air shaft is an unroofed external space provided within the volume of a large building to allow light and air to reach what would otherwise be dark or unventilated area...
  
  
• Skylight
• Atrium (architecture)
  Atrium (architecture)
  In modern architecture, an atrium is a large open space, often several stories high and having a glazed roof and/or large windows, often situated within a larger multistory building and often located immediately beyond the main entrance doors...
  
  

External links

• Design and construction of a surface air cooling and refrigeration installation at a South African mine, a paper presented at the North American Mine Ventilation Symposium 2008