Reducing Enclosed Cab Drill Operator’s Respirable Dust Exposure at Surface Coal Operation with a Retrofitted Filtration and Pressurization System

Details

• Personal Author:
  Ashley JD ; Cecala, Andrew B. ; Gresh RE ; Heitbrink, William A. ; Organiscak, John A. ; Zimmer JA
• Description:
  Many different types of mobile equipment used in surface coal mining utilize enclosed cabs to protect equipment operators. The overburden removal process is extremely dusty and can cause excessive exposure to respirable dust, especially crystalline silica. After equipment is used for years, many components of the enclosure deteriorate and its effectiveness is greatly reduced. This report discusses a cooperative research study performed on an Ingersoll Rand DM45E surface drill, retrofitted with a new Sigma pressurization and filtration system. Respirable dust concentrations were substantially reduced from 0.64 mg/m3 during pre-testing to 0.05 mg/m3 during post-testing with the new system, representing a 92% reduction in dust levels in the drill cab. This new system appears to be a very well-built and sturdy device, well-suited for the mining industry. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aluminum Silicates Dust Filtration Mining Occupational Health Safety Silicon Dioxide
• Keywords:
  Control-systems Control-technology Dust-control Dust-samplers Filters Miners Mining-equipment Mining-industry Silica-dusts Silicates
• Series:
  Mining Publications
• Publisher:
  Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc.
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  Arizona ; Illinois ; Kentucky ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 9 ; Pennsylvania ; Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  PRL - Pittsburgh Research Laboratory ; DART - Division of Applied Research and Technology
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-6
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20023180
• Citation:
  2002 SME Annual Meeting, Feb 25-27, Phoenix, Arizona, preprint 02-105. Littleton, CO: Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc, 2002 Feb; :1-6
• CAS Registry Number:
  Quartz (SiO2) (CAS RN 14808-60-7)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2002
• NORA Priority Area:
  Research Tools and Approaches: Control Technology and Personal Protective Equipment
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:69fb4b778b545dcb3de5007778dc3829df81a50253eb6b58e0581d262a658fd0b5794ad07aad1864e29eafa3a9356dfded0b8663dc3de2a2e8d5047871eb7081
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/220636/cdc_220636_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 224.44 KB ]