Abstract: The heat pipe structural parameters of the gravitational heat pipe heat exchange system for mine air return heat recovery and intake air heating remain largely the same under different operating conditions, resulting in low efficiency of waste heat recovery from mine air return and inability to meet the design requirements for intake air temperature. To address the technical challenge of lacking targeted theoretical support for the design of key parameters of this system and its heat pipe components, a design calculation method for key parameters of the mine air return and intake gravitational heat pipe system was proposed based on the heat exchange model of the gravitational heat pipe system. This method was applied to a mine in Yinchuan, and its heat exchange effectiveness was compared with three other typical gravitational heat pipe coal mines. The results showed that the gravitational heat pipe heat exchange system at this mine increased the intake air temperature from -31.5°C to 4.1°C, meeting the coal mine safety regulation requirement of an intake air temperature ≥2°C, and demonstrated a more noticeable improvement compared to other projects, thereby confirming the effectiveness and practicality of this method.