Reducing dust at longwall shearers by confining the dust cloud to the face
The Bureau of Mines has developed the shearer-clearer dust control system for longwall shearers. The system partitions the airflow around the shearer into a clean split and a contaminated split. The dust cloud is confined to the vicinity of the coal face, while the shearer operators remain in the clean split on the gob side of the machine. The shearer-clearer operates on the principle that each water spray moves air like a small fan and can be positioned to direct the dustry air toward the face. The hardware is inexpensive and can be installed in a single shift. It consists of several strategically mounted water sprays and one or more passive barriers. Laboratory testing indicates reductions in shearer operator dust exposure as high as 97%. Preliminary results indicate that considerable dust reductions at the shearer may also be obtained. In conjunction with the development of the shearer-clearer, dust surveys were conducted in three other mines to determine if some shearer spray systems currently in use partition the flow in a manner similar to the shearer-clearer, and if so, whether this partially accounts for markedly cleaner conditions on some longwalls. Results indicate this to be the case: a feature of the cleaner longwalls was a downwind orientation of their water sprays, which is a key element of the shearer-clearer system. The shearer-clearer system described was designed for an Eickhoff EDW 300 shearer working a 7-foot coal seam. Testing to date has concentrated on cutting directions counter to the primary airflow. It is expected that different systems will be required to accommodate the range of conditions occurring underground. Application to conditions different than those described is not likely to produce the same results.
- Research Organization:
- Bureau of Mines, Pittsburgh, PA (USA). Pittsburgh Research Center
- OSTI ID:
- 6859540
- Report Number(s):
- BM-TPR-111
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Improving dust control on longwall shearers
Improved shearer-clearer system for double-drum shearers on longwall faces. Rept. of investigations/1985
Related Subjects
012000* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Mining
016000 -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Health & Safety
COAL MINING
CONTROL
CUTTER LOADERS
DUSTS
EQUIPMENT
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
LONGWALL MINING
MINING
MINING EQUIPMENT
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
SHEARER LOADERS
SPRAYS
UNDERGROUND MINING
US BUREAU OF MINES
US DOI
US ORGANIZATIONS
WATER