Dust Control – Soil Stabilization – Erosion Control

With the increased need for raw materials, more and more mining is being performed. Because of this, mining dust is becoming an increasing concern for the equipment being used, but more importantly for the health of those who are operating the machines. Mining dust is not only a problem on the surface where it is out in the open, but also underground where space is more confined.

The difference with dust control underground from that of topside mining efforts is that of the confined space associated with mining. This has worked to the advantage of the miners that are solving this problem because mining tunnels have no windows or cracks in doorways, just ventilation shafts. This means that dust removal efforts do not have to work as hard to remove the airborne particles.

In the coal mining industry, 33 percent of the coal in the United States is from mining underground. Of that, 51 percent is in the form of longwall mining. Studies have shown that there are 45 longwall mines in operation. To keep the dust down in these areas dust control measures have been put into place.

Practically all of these mines have flooded bed scrubbers to reduce the dust. In addition to these scrubbers being used, but the sizes of the shafts have also been increased to help improve air flow. Because of these and other steps taken to decrease the floating particles, there has been a corresponding decrease in workers with Coal Workers Pneumoconiosis. The numbers were at 28.2 percent in 1973, but by 1999 the number of cases had dropped to 3.3 percent.

The primary controlling factors in mining dust are the ventilation shafts and the use of water sprayers. Not only is more air being forced down the shafts to improve the air quality, but water is being sprayed in the drilling and blasting areas along with the transportation belts. Exhaust fans are also used to help decrease the dust. This air is sprayed with water before it exists the shaft so the outside environment is not affected.

Mining dust will always be a problem as long as the mining continues. But the good news is that today, the amount of dust is significantly reduced by using the proper precautions and equipment.

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