Assessing Foam Application to Mine Roof for Longwall Mining Shield Dust Control

Details

• Personal Author:
  Beck, Timothy W. ; Klima S ; Reed, William R. ; Shahan MR ; Zheng Y
• Description:
  Testing was conducted to determine the ability of foam to maintain roof coverage in a simulated longwall mining environment. Approximately 27% of the respirable coal mine dust can be attributed to longwall shield movement. Developing controls for this dust source has been difficult. The application of foam is a possible dust control method for this source. Laboratory testing of two foam agents was conducted to determine their ability of foam to adhere to a simulated longwall face roof surface. Two different foam generation methods were used; compressed air (CA) and blower air (BA). Using a new imaging technology, image processing and analysis utilizing ImageJ software produced quantifiable results of foam roof coverage. For CA foam in 3.3 m/s (3.3 m/s (650 fpm)) ventilation at 3 minutes after application, 98% of agent A was intact, while 95% of agent B was intact on the roof. At 30 minutes after application 94% of agent A was intact while only 20% of agent B remained. For BA in 3.3 m/s (3.3 m/s (650 fpm)) ventilation, the results were dependent upon nozzle type. Three different nozzles were tested. At 30 minutes after application 74-92% of foam agent A remained, while 3-50% of foam agent B remained. CA foam seems to remain intact for longer durations and is easier to apply than BA foam. However, more water drained from the foam when using CA foam which demonstrates that BA foam retains more water at the roof surface. Agent A seemed to be the better performer as far as roof application is concerned. This testing demonstrates that roof application of foam is feasible and is able withstand a typical face ventilation velocity, establishing this technique's potential for longwall shield dust control. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Dust Laboratories Mining Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Control Technology Dust Control Dust Control Equipment Environmental Control Laboratory Testing Longwall Mining Materials Testing Mining-industry Performance Capability Performance Tests Respirable Dust Roofing Underground Mines

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• Series:
  Mining Publications
• ISBN:
  9781510836471
• Publisher:
  Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc.
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 8 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  PMRD - Pittsburgh Mining Research Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  67-79
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20050032
• Citation:
  Creating value in a cyclical environment, SME annual conference and expo 2017, February 19-22, 2017, Denver, Colorado. Englewood, CO: Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc., 2017 May; :67-79
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2017
• NORA Priority Area:
  Mining
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ee247d45ec94963dc83c110e93bf0d5c2f7c77d6cb21d0ffbbb364d88609f83755f3f6b6fa4c45d6906f1bcad0e3414e03d9acbf321d2c92b68831bd317cfcdb
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/228429/cdc_228429_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 133.86 KB ]