Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Study of the Impact of Powered Air-Purifying Respirators (PAPR) in Underground Mining Operations

Details

• Personal Author:
  Arnold B ; Gonzalez LS ; Kumar AR
• Description:
  Mining operations adopt a variety of measures to combat dust underground. These include ventilation systems, water sprays, physical barriers, and personal protective equipment (PPE). Respirators are a class of PPE that can provide clean particulate-free air to the users. Powered Air-Purifying Respirators (PAPRs), used commonly in medical and other sectors, are not prevalent in the mining industry. PAPRs use P100 filters that have 99.97% dust capture efficiency. We present our results from computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations performed to understand the impact of a PAPR on airflow and dust particle concentration in the vicinity of a miner. These results show that donning PAPRs can lower the miners' exposure to respirable coal dust in their workplace. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Dust Mining Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Safety
• Keywords:
  CFD Computational Fluid Dynamics Dust Exposure Mining Industry PAPR Personal Protective Equipment Powered Air Purifying Respirator PPE Respirable Dust
• Publisher:
  Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (SME)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Contract
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  Pennsylvania ; Philadelphia Region [OSHA]
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-8
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20070858
• Citation:
  MineXchange: 2025 SME Annual Conference & Expo, February 23-26, 2025, Denver, Coloardo, preprint 25-020. Englewood, CO: Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration, 2025 Feb; :1-8
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2025
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  MineXchange: 2025 SME Annual Conference & Expo, February 23-26, 2025, Denver, Coloardo, preprint 25-020
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:2fb3f6110c156e534b67d42c392f266fb8e46a4dbb6d75a59beb98f49fe6371b371b9eec702cfb704416613441c0182d30a3992705aa161a2be5f346fb057b65
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/208988/cdc_208988_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 692.74 KB ]