Evaluate fundamental approaches to longwall dust control: Subprogram E, Longwall application of ventilation curtains

Technical Report · Tue May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1990

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/7046718· OSTI ID:7046718

Babbitt, C; Ruggieri, S

There are a number of applications on longwall faces where Brattice curtains they can improve face ventilation and dust control in coal mines. This report describes the laboratory development and/or field evaluation of several longwall ventilation curtains, including: wing curtains: The headgate cut-out'' provides a source of extreme dust concentrations for shearer operators. A wing curtain in the headgate, which shields the headgate drum from the ventilation airstream as the drum cuts out, can reduce the operator's dust exposures during the cutout by 50 to 60%; Gob curtains: a significant amount of ventilating air can be lost to the gob in the headgate area. A gob curtain between the first shield and the chain pillar rib can block much of the leakage and increase the volume of air supplied to the face by approximately 10%; walkway curtains: curtains in the walkway, perpendicular to the airflow, were evaluated for their potential to reduce the migration of dusty face air into the walkway. Unfortunately they proved ineffective; and Extended spillplate: a vertical extension to the existing spillplate was evaluated for its potential to partition the clean and contaminated airflow. Unfortunately, only a full-height spillplate (impractical for actual application), showed appreciable reductions in walkway dust levels. 30 figs., 3 tabs.

• Research Organization: Foster-Miller, Inc., Waltham, MA (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/FE
• DOE Contract Number: AI01-81FE00016
• OSTI ID: 7046718
• Report Number(s): DOE/FE/00016-T173; ON: DE90015501; CNN: J0318097
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
012030 -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Underground Mining-- (1987-)
012033* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Underground Mining-- Mine Environment-- (1987-)
016000 -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Health & Safety
AIR FLOW
AIR QUALITY
COAL MINES
COAL MINING
CONTROL
CURTAINS
DOCUMENT TYPES
DUSTS
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
EVALUATION
FLUID FLOW
GAS FLOW
LONGWALL MINING
MINES
MINING
PROGRESS REPORT
UNDERGROUND FACILITIES
UNDERGROUND MINING
VENTILATION
WORKING CONDITIONS