Dust dispersion and management in underground mining faces

Presence of fine dust in air causes serious health hazard for mine operators resulting in such serious problems as coal workers' pneumoconiosis and silicosis. Major sources of dust appear of course along the mining face where the minerals are extracted. Proper control and management are required to ensure safe working environment in the mine. Here, we utilize the computational fluid dynamic (CFD) approach to evaluate various methods used for mitigating dust dispersion from the mining face and for ensuring safe level of dust concentration in the mine tunnel for safety of the operators. The methods used include: application of blowing and exhaust fans, application of brattice and combination of both. The results suggest that among the examined methods, implementation of appropriately located brattice to direct the flow from the main shaft to the mining face is the most effective method to direct dust particles away from the mining face. (C) 2014 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of China University of Mining & Technology.