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Title: Elemental composition of coal dusted created by mining and laboratory size reduction

Journal Article · · Mining Engineering (Littleton, Colorado); (USA)
OSTI ID:5700128
;  [1]
  1. Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (USA). Dept. of Mining

Coal extraction by continuous miners (CM) is currently the most common underground method in the US industry and accounts for slightly more than two-thirds of the nation's deep mining production (National Coal Association, 1987). Even if longwall mining should become more commonplace, it can proceed only after ventilation and access entries have been driven by CMs. Since an area of concern continues to be the effects of the dust generated on the health of mineworkers, this paper discusses the relationship between the elemental composition of mining-generated airborne dust sampled from the immediate ventilation return of a CM and laboratory-generated dust derived from channel samples taken from the mines. There are several potential contributions of this type of study to the coal mining industry. First, after more fundamental knowledge of the causes of Coal Worker's Pneumoconiosis (CWP) is learned, the laboratory-generated respirable dust could be used to identify a potentially hazardous coal seam. Also, this study could possibly aid in understanding the fundamental causes of CWP by producing mining-simulated samples of coal dust that could be used in epidemiological studies.

OSTI ID:
5700128
Journal Information:
Mining Engineering (Littleton, Colorado); (USA), Vol. 41:8; ISSN 0026-5187
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English