logo
logo
Sign in

Understanding the top benefits of dust suppression in mines

avatar
xylem AU
Understanding the top benefits of dust suppression in mines

Dust suppression mining has a lot of benefits. Australia produces around 6% of the world’s coal. Most of the coal is mined from open-cut coal mines. These cut mines produce a wide range of challenges in relation to air quality and dust control due to the inevitable production of dust. Respirable dust is dust that is typically less than ten microns in size. It is invisible to the naked eye and can cause a lot of complications such as vision impairment and major health risks such as lung disease. Here are a few things you need to know about dust in mines.

 

Sources of respirable dust on mine sites

In mines, the largest source of dust comes from trucks moving along dirt roads. However, other sources of dust may include blasting, wind erosion of overburden, dumping overburden and so on. It is the duty and responsibility of mining companies to effectively deliver comprehensive proper dust control solutions to meet the air quality standards. This is necessary for preventing harm to the health of both employees and the community.

 

Two ways to control dust in mines

There are some systems and methods that cannot control dust in mines. For example, some methods use large volumes of water and it can be difficult for such methods to be sustainable. When choosing the right methods of dust control on mines, it is important to consider affordable and sustainable methods. You can easily nip it in the bud with a low-pressure dust prevention system. This system uses large volumes of water at close range to contain dust. The water droplets are coarser as they are low pressure so this is typically described as a wetting system and not a misting system.

 

You can also use dust suppression and use water from your mining water treatment plant. Dust suppression conversely uses lower water volumes at high pressure. The system adds mist that is finely atomized to the air and this captures and subdues dust that is airborne.

 

Benefits of dust suppression

Dust suppression reduces visual dust, respirable dust by over 80%, minimises water usage, eliminates excessive moisture content, minimises conveyor slippage, reduces chute blockages, increases safe work areas and improves housekeeping standards.

 

Dust prevention and dust suppression systems can be used together

It is possible to use the two systems together since low-pressure dust prevention is normally used in approximately 81% of underground mining sites and 96% of open-cut mines. However, this approach doesn’t effectively minimise emissions.

 

With dust suppression, it is important to be aware that dust prevention systems and dust suppression are not exclusive. A lot of mines use both systems to control dust effectively.

 

Choosing the right dust suppression systems

It is important to understand that dust suppression mining systems are different and when it comes to choosing the right system, there are a lot of things you need to consider. It is important to also consider the technology used in dust suppression. Modern dust suppression systems are triggered by programmable logic controllers and remote-control systems, with fully automated water filtration systems that self-clean themselves.

collect
0
avatar
xylem AU
guide
Zupyak is the world’s largest content marketing community, with over 400 000 members and 3 million articles. Explore and get your content discovered.
Read more