Online coal dust suppression system for opencast coal mines

Coal is the major source of power in India and world over.Coal mining is an essential industry which has a major role in the economic development of the country.Most major mining activities contribute directly or indirectly to air pollution.Coal dust is a major air pollutant which affects the personal working in the mines and also people residing in villages near the mines.Air pollution due to coal particulates can affect human health and cause damages to the environment.Hence effective pollution control mechanisms are needed to keep the pollution levels within permissible levels.The easiest and most common method employed for dust suppression worldwide is sprinkling of water.In majority of mines,water sprinklers are operated manually and can lead to wastage of water due to over sprinkling.It can also prove to be ineffective in dust suppression if sprinkling is not done properly.The paper proposes a system which can be deployed to automate the dust suppressions sprinklers.The system will monitor the concentration of PM_(10) and PM_(2.5) in the air and initiate sprinkling operation when the particulate matter content exceeds preconfigured limits.

New Respirable Dust Suppression Systems for Coal Mines

Dust suppression in coal mines is a worldwide problem which has not been solved effectively. The applica-tion of negative pressure secondary dust removal (NPSDR) is a breakthrough in the coal mine safety field. In this paper,NPSDR technology and ultrasonic dust suppression systems are introduced. High pressure water is supplied to the NPSDR device which is mounted on the shearer. A negative pressure field is formed in the device. At the same time,the dusty air around the shearer drum will be sucked into,and purged from,the NPSDR device by the negative pressure field. An ultrasonic dust suppression system uses water and compressed air to produce micron sized droplets which suppress respirable coal dust effectively. The NPSDR technology can be used for shearer dust suppression while ultra-sonic dust suppression can be applied in areas such as the transportation positions. These dust suppression methods have the following advantages: high efficiency,wide applicability,simple structure,high reliability and low cost.

A new design of foaming agent mixing device for a pneumatic foaming system used for mine dust suppression

To overcome the drawbacks of the conventional foam technology used for dust suppression,including large pressure loss,high water pressure and low driving pressure,a new pneumatic foaming system is introduced.Then an original design of foaming agent mixing device is proposed,and its performance is investigated and evaluated under different pressure compensations.Experimental results show that the maximum absorption amount increases by 2.9-6.7 times at a pressure compensation of 0.04-0.2 MPa compared with no pressure compensation.The pressure loss and pressure fluctuation both reduce significantly with increasing pressure compensation.The critical outlet pressure increases by30.4-240%.Field application indicates that the proposed mixing device ensures the reliable addition of foaming agent used for foam dust suppression.The effect of foam on dust suppression is remarkable,and the economic cost of foam is low.Therefore,there is reason to believe that the new mixing device will greatly promote foam technology to be widely used for suppressing dust in underground coal mines.

A new adding method of foaming agent used for foam dust suppression in underground coal mines

To realize a stable addition of foaming agent used for foam technology, a new adding method using the jet cavitation was introduced, and its performance was investigated experimentally under different operating conditions. Experimental results show that the bubble region in the jet device has a constant vapor pressure, which creates a good condition for liquid absorption, while it shrinks with increasing outlet pressure. The liquid absorption amount keeps unchanged when the outlet pressure is lower than a critical value. The critical outlet pressure increases by 40% with decreasing cavitation absorption amount, which is especially suitable for mini-flow quantitative addition of foaming agent used for foam dust suppression. Its effectiveness on suppressing mine dust was evaluated in a heading face of underground coal mines. Field application indicates that the reliable and simple foaming system adopting the new adding method makes a marked dust suppression effect. The working environment of heading face is significantly improved, ensuring the safe tunneling and personal security.

Dust Suppression on Open Pit Drill Rigs--Case Study from Skorpion Zinc Mine

Spotters and samplers around the drill rigs can be exposed to high dust concentrations. In this study it was found that individuals were exposed to as much as 14.2 mg/m3, which exceeds the OEL （Occupational Exposure Level） of 10 mg/m3 [1]. The work on which this paper is based included an extensive literature study, as well as field investigations. Number of additional dust suppression interventions was identified. These improvements, listed below, will assist in reducing dust concentrations arotmd the drill rigs： Increase maintenance frequency on the shroud, sealing ring, suction pipes and filters of the drill rigs. Design and install new overlapping rubber belts on the shroud of the DM45. Install an air-blocking shelf on the inside perimeter of the shroud of the DM45. Install an airflow meter to ensure that the Qc：QB ratio never drops below 3：1. Only allow wet drilling. Flush the dust collector system more regularly with compressed air to ensure that it does not become blocked. Introduce stricter supervision to ensure that the suction pipes are always connected to the shroud. Give drill rig operators more advanced training to ensure more effective drilling in order to reduce dust levels.

Discussion on Dust Removal(Suppression)System of Crushing Station in Open-Pit Coal Mine

This paper introduces the method of coal dust treatment in crushing station and the present situation of dust removal system in typical open-pit coal mine crushing station in China,and expounds the research idea of determining comprehensive dust removal(suppression)system in crushing station inspired by the working principle of"range hood".Based on the design example and link optimization of the crush-ing station of open-pit coal mine I of Thar coalfield,this paper finally draws some conclusions on the key technologies of dust removal(suppression)system of open-pit coal mine crushing station.This study has certain reference value for the technical innovation of dust removal(suppression)system in crushing station,the realization of green mining in"crushing link",and the reduction and avoidance of ecological environment pollution in mining area.

Research Progress and Prospect of Road Dust Suppressants

Road dust has great adverse effects on traffic quality,traffic safety,atmospheric environment quality,and human health.Therefore,with the continuous development of modern science and technology,the research of road dust suppressants is also progressing.To promote the rational application and development of road dust suppressants,the research progress and prospects of them are analyzed in this paper.It includes a basic overview of road dust suppressants,the main types,the usage and precautions,and the main development direction.It is hoped that this analysis can provide some reference for further research and development of road dust suppressants.

Mechanism of micro-wetting of highly hydrophobic coal dust in underground mining and new wetting agent development

The internal mechanism of the high hydrophobicity of the coal samples from the Pingdingshan mining area was studied through industrial,element,and surface functional group analysis.Laboratory testing and molecular dynamics simulations were employed to study the impact of three types of surfactants on the surface adsorption properties and wettability of highly hydrophobic bituminous coal.The results show that the surface of highly hydrophobic bituminous coal is compact,rich in inorganic minerals,and poorly wettable and that coal molecules are dominated by hydrophobic functional groups of aromatic rings and aliphatic structures.The wetting performance of surfactants as the intermediate carrier to connect coal and water molecules is largely determined by the interaction force between surfactants and coal(Fs-c)and the interaction force between surfactants and water(Fs-w),which effectively improve the wettability of modified coal dust via modifying its surface electrical properties and surface energy.A new type of wetting agent with a dust removal rate of 89%has been developed through discovery of a compound wetting agent solution with optimal wetting and settling performance.This paper provides theoretical and technical support for removing highly hydrophobic bituminous coal dust in underground mining.

Experimental Study for the Cementation Effect of Dust Soil by Using Soybean Urease

Dust is an environmental and health hazard.In this study,a new technology for dust suppressant is introduced using soybean urease with an optimal cementing solution.Calcium carbonate is produced by soybean urease and cementing solution,which bonds the soil particles towards a dust suppressant.A laboratory wind tunnel test is carried out to examine its effectiveness and discover possible optimization solutions.Several factors,including soybean meal concentration,cementing solution concentration,and volume of solution per unit area,are examined to quantify their influences on soil transport mass,evaporation ratio,evaporation rate,surface strength,water retention ratio,and infiltration rate of soil treated by different dust suppressants.Field tests are conducted to explore the performance of this method in the natural environment.The results show that compared with other dust suppressants,the optimized soybean urease has the smallest evaporation rate,a moderate infiltration rate,the largest water retention ratio and surface strength.The indexes of soybean urease for dust suppressant are found to be better than traditional materials.In the natural environment,soybean urease has a stronger anti-disturbance ability.This study concludes that soybean urease dust suppressant has great application potential as a cheap and green method.

A new design of foam spray nozzle used for precise dust control in underground coal mines

In order to improve the utilization rate of foam,an arc jet nozzle was designed for precise dust control.Through theoretical analysis,the different demands of foam were compared amongst arc jets,flat jets and full cone jets when the dust source was covered identically by foam.It is proved that foam consumption was least when an arc jet was used.Foam production capability of an arc jet nozzle under different conditions was investigated through experiments.The results show that with the gas liquid ratio(GLR)increasing,the spray state of an arc jet nozzle presents successively water jet,foam jet and mist.Under a reasonable working condition range of foam production and a fixed GLR,foam production quantity increases at first,and then decreases with the increase of liquid supply quantity.When the inner diameter of the nozzle is 14 mm,the best GLR is 30 and the optimum liquid supply quantity is0.375 m^3/h.The results of field experiments show that the total dust and respirable dust suppression efficiency of arc jet nozzles is 85.8%and 82.6%respectively,which are 1.39 and 1.37 times higher than the full cone nozzles and 1.20 and 1.19 times higher than the fiat nozzles.

Effectiveness of coal mine dust control:A new technique for preparation and efficacy of self-adaptive microcapsule suppressant

This study aims to make full use of the agricultural waste peanut shells to lower material costs and achieve cleaner production at the same time.Cellulose nanofibrils(CNF)extracted from peanut shells were mixed with acrylic acid(AA)and dimethyl diallyl ammonium chloride(DMDAAC)to prepare a new type of capsule core(dust suppressant).Then,the self-adaptive AA-DM-CNF/CA microcapsules were prepared under the action of calcium alginate.The infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis results suggest that AA,DMDAAC and CNF have experienced graft copolymerization which leads to the formation of an amorphous structure.The scanning electron microscopy analysis results demonstrate that the internal dust suppressant can expand and break the wall after absorbing water,featuring a self-adaptive function.Meanwhile,the laser particle size analysis results show that the microcapsules,inside which the encapsulated dust suppressant can be observed clearly,maintain a good shape.The product performance experimental results reveal that the capsule core and the capsule wall achieve synergistic dust suppression,thus lengthening the dust suppression time.The product boasts good dust suppression,weather resistance,degradation and synergistic combustion performances.Moreover,this study,as the first report on the development and analysis of dust-suppressing microcapsules,fills in the research gap on the reaction mechanism between dust-suppressing microcapsules and coal by MS simulation.The proposed AA-DM-CNF/CA dust-suppressing microcapsules can effectively lower the dust concentration in the space and protect the physical and mental health of coal workers.In general,this research provides a new insight into the structure control and performance enhancement of dust suppressants.Expanding the application range of microcapsules is of crucial economic and social benefits.

Water-retaining properties of NCZ composite dust suppressant and its wetting ability to hydrophobic coal dust

Coal dust is a primary threat to underground coal miners.The most common approach to control coal dust is hydraulic methods,such as water spray and coal seam water injection.To improve the dust suppressant efficiency of hydraulic methods,a novel chemical composite dust suppressant,called NCZ,was prepared in this study using calcium chloride(CaCl_(2)),magnesium chloride(MgCl_(2)),and nonionic surfactants using a thermal synthesis method.The water-retaining properties of NCZ powder and its solutions were characterized using the water absorption rate(WAR)and evaporation rate(ER),respectively,and the wetting abilities of the NCZ solutions on coal dust were tested using the initial contact angle(ICA)and sink rate(SR).The results indicate that the NCZ solutions have anti-evaporation effects,and the ER of the solution with a 20.0 wt%NCZ is reduced by 11.7%compared with that of clean water.Furthermore,NCZ solutions have remarkable enhancement effects on the wettability of coal dust.The ICA and SR of clean water and the NCZ solution at 20.0 wt%are 141.9°and 0 mg/s,and 29.3°and 1.46 mg/s,respectively.Finally,quantitative relationships between the solution surface tension and the ICA and IR were established using the least squares method.This study provides a new product for dust suppression in underground mines,which is significant for the optimum applied con-centration of dust suppressant in mining operations.

Preparation and performance analysis of a coking coal dust suppressant spray

Coking coal dust is extremely hydrophobic;therefore,combination with droplets in the air is difficult and dust suppression is challenging.Here,a dust suppressant spray for coking coal dust was studied in order to improve of the combination of droplets and coking coal dust.Based on monomer optimization and compounding analysis,two surfactant monomers,fatty alcohol ether sodium sulfate(AES)and sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate(SDBS)were selected as the surfactant components of the dust suppressant.The surfactant monomers were combined with four inorganic salts and the reverse osmosis moisture absorption of each solution was determined.By combining the reverse osmosis moisture absorption values with the water retention experimental results,CaCl_(2)was identified as the optimal inorganic salt additive for the dust suppressant.Finally,the optimal concentration of each component was obtained using orthogonal experimental design i.e.,AES(0.03%),SDBS(0.05%),and CaCl_(2)(0.4%).The dust suppressant solution formulated using this method had a high moisture absorption capacity and excellent performance.

INFLUENCE OF AIR HUMIDITY ON THE SUPPRESSION OF FUGITIVE DUST BY USING A WATER-SPRAYING SYSTEM

One of the main origins of fugitive dust emission arises from bulk handling in quarries or mines, in particular, from bulk materials falling from a hopper or a conveyor belt. Water-spraying systems, using two-phase nozzles, are one of the methods to suppress such dust emission. In this work we tried to develop a mathematical model to correlate air humidity, water flux through the nozzle and the dust （in particular PM10） emission, in order to improve the application and efficiency of these systems. Sand from the Yellow River in China was dropped from a conveyor belt into a dust chamber at 1 kg·min^-1, wherefrom the emitted dust was sucked off and quantified via a cascade impactor. A two-phase nozzle was installed in the dust chamber with a water flux through the nozzle of 1.2 to 3 L·h^-1, whereas the relative air humidity changed between 55 and 73%. Dust emission was found to be linearly dependent on relative air humidity. Furthermore model equations were developed to describe the dependence of PM10 emission on water flux and relative air humidity.

Modeling the influence of forced ventilation on the dispersion of droplets ejected from roadheader-mounted external sprayer

In order to reveal the influence of forced ventilation on the dispersion of droplets ejected from roadheader-mounted external sprayer,the paper studies the air-flowing field and the droplet distribution under the condition of gentle breeze and normal forced ventilation in heading face using the particle tracking technology of computational fluid dynamics(CFD).The results show that air-flowing tendency in the same section presents great comparability in the period of gentle breeze and forced ventilation,and the difference mainly embodies in the different wind velocity.The influence of ventilation on the dispersion of droplets is faint under the gentle breeze condition.The droplet can be evenly distributed around the cutting head.However,under the normal forced ventilation,a large number of droplets will drift to the return air side.At the same time,droplet clusters are predominantly presented in the lower part of windward side and the middle of the leeward side around the cutting head.In contrast,the droplet concentration in other parts around cutting head decreases a lot and the droplets are unable to form close-grained mist curtain.So the dust escape channel is formed.In addition,the simulation results also reveal that the disturbance of air flow on the droplet distribution can be effectively relieved when using ventilation duct with Coanda effect(VDCE).Field experiment results show that the dust suppression efficiency of total dust and respirable dust increases respectively by 10.5%and 9.3%when using VDCE,which proves that it can weaken the influence of airflow on droplet dispersion.

Optimization via response surface methodology of the synthesis of a dust suppressant and its performance characterization for use in open cut coal mines

To relieve dust pollution in open cut coal mines and reduce the hazards of coal dust pollution to the environment and workers we optimized the synthesis of a dust suppressant by graft copolymerization of environmentally friendly soy protein isolate with methyl methacrylate.This dust suppressant could effectively control dust pollution in open cut coal mines. The optimized conditions for graft copolymerization in this case were determined by a response surface experiment designed with Design-Expert 10 software. Characterization by scanning electron microscopy showed a significant morphology change of the dust suppressant and the generation of a rigid and dense layer on its surface after interacting with coal dust.The layer exhibited good bonding and dust suppression performance. The analysis with Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy revealed the appearance of new absorption peaks near 1300, 1072, and 1631 cm, demonstrating effective graft copolymerization. The proposed dust suppressant exhibited excellent wind erosion resistance, with a resistance that exceeded 90% at a wind speed of 6.5 m/sec. The successful graft copolymerization and effective bonding and curing of the dust suppressant on coal dust were experimentally verified.This is of great significance to the control of coal dust pollution.

Biochar granulation reduces substrate erosion on green roofs

Green roofs are exposed to high winds and harsh environmental conditions that can degrade vegetation and erode substrate material,with negative consequences to ecosystem services.Biochar has been promoted as an effective substrate additive to enhance plant performance,but unprocessed biochars are susceptible to wind and water erosion.Applications of granulated biochars or chemical dust suppressants are suggested as a means to mitigate biochar and substrate erosion;however,research on biochar type and chemical dust suppressant use on biochar and substrate erosion is lacking.Vegetation is a crucial factor that influences substrate erosion,yet plant responses may vary with biochar type and chemical dust suppressant;thus,the effects of possible mitigation measures on biochar and substrate erosion are unclear.We investigated the effects of surface-applied granulated and unprocessed biochars and an organic dust suppressant(Entac™)on biochar and substrate erosion on green roofs with Sedum album L.and a native plant mix.Our results show that 94%of unprocessed biochars were lost from green roofs after 2 years regardless of the Entac™amendment,likely due to the lightweight nature and fragmentation of biochar particles.In contrast,granulation of biochars reduced the biochar erosion and total substrate erosion by 74%and 39%,respec-tively,possibly due to enhanced biochar bulk density and particle size and improved moisture retention of biochar-amended substrates.Additionally,Sedum album better reduced biochar and substrate erosion than the native plant mix,likely due to rapid development of high vegetation cover that reduced wind exposure and enhanced substrate moisture retention.We conclude that applications of granulated biochars can substantially reduce biochar and sub-strate erosion on green roofs,improving green roof sustainability.