THE CSIRO has tested a dust scrubber for maintaining healthier mine environments.
While mines have a number of obvious hazards, such as the presence of explosive gases, floods, and structural collapse, pollutants like coal dust and diesel particulates from engine fumes can be potent killers.
If coal dust is not handled carefully, mine workers could contract pneumoconiosis and silicosis.
Miners can wear personal protection equipment such as masks, and mines may take steps to reduce the hazard using ventilation, water infusion, wet-cutting, water sprays, wetting agents, foam, and dust collectors.
CSIRO says it recently garnered better-than-expected results from tests of a dust scrubber at BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance’s mine at Broadmeadow in Queensland’s Bowen Basin.
While scrubber systems have been tested before, the success of the tests were limited by a lack of understanding of the dust and airflow patterns around the sites for dust control.
The CSIRO engaged in research projects based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling to improve the understanding of dust flow patterns around the longwall shearer and walkway under different operating conditions.
It trialled the new shearer scrubber system developed by Dr Ting Ren, Dr Rao Balusu and EnviroCon.
The scrubber sucks air into a filtration system, then discharges the cleaned air through a duct. It has sprays in the side so the intake hood to improve filtration.
According to the CSIRO, its CFD modelling studies successfully confirmed the effectiveness of the spray pressure, flow and design of the scrubber. Results showed average dust concentration falling from 1.35 mg/m3 to 0.77 mg/m3.
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