Evaluations of Bit Sleeve and Twisted-Body Bit Designs for Controlling Roof Bolter Dust

Details

• Personal Author:
  Beck, Timothy W.
• Description:
  Drilling into coal mine roof strata to install roof bolts has the potential to release substantial quantities of respirable dust. Due to the proximity of drill holes to the breathing zone of roof bolting personnel, dusts escaping the holes and avoiding capture by the dust collection system pose a potential respiratory health risk. Controls are available to complement the typical vacuum collection system and minimize harmful exposures during the initial phase of drilling. This paper examines the use of a bit sleeve to improve dust extraction during the critical initial phase of drilling. A twisted-body drill bit is also evaluated to determine the quantity of dust liberated by different bit designs. Based on these laboratory tests, the bit sleeve may reduce dust emissions by fifty percent during the initial phase of drilling before the drill bit is fully enclosed by the drill hole. Because collaring is responsible for the largest dust liberations, overall dust emissions are also substantially reduced. The use of a twisted-body bit has minimal improvement on dust capture compared to the commonly used dust hog-style bit. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Coal Coal Mining Dust Environmental Monitoring Laboratories Mining Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Breathing-zone Coal-dust Coal-miners Coal-mining Dust-collectors Dust-control Dust-control-equipment Emission-sources Environmental-control-equipment Equipment-design Laboratory-testing Mining-equipment Mining-industry Respirable-dust Rock-mechanics Underground-mining

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• Series:
  Mining Publications
• ISSN:
  0026-5187
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OMSHR - Office of Mine Safety and Health Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  34-40
• Volume:
  67
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20046539
• Citation:
  Min Eng 2015 Feb; 67(2):34-40
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Mining Engineering
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:802d4efc0888d3f3f91fb9ebaf6e4adee3cf1b2b2070fdfc7ac4d7679286f3f1c28f8cbd8e36a023d81ce76e3c1f8a0b3244ae634e75d222a5cd42d5aaaf1eae
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/228151/cdc_228151_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 582.16 KB ]