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Investigation on the dust migration behavior and safety zone in the fully mechanized mining face

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Abstract

High dust concentration produced in the fully mechanized longwall mining face is a significant threat to the front-line workers. It is critical to discover the potential safety zone to ensure routine personnel operation. Fluent 2020 R1 is employed to reappear the spatial dust distribution based on the gas-solid coupling theory. The dust migration behavior and safety regional division are illuminated in the spatial longwall mining face. The formation of dust concentration trigonum is introduced with the particle diffusion force analyzed. The YZ plane safety zone area shows an increasing trend at X = 70–95 m. The respirable dust concentration decreases from the peak value to the safe value at sidewalk 4.0–4.6 m. The safety zone area and length both pose a linear growth with the increasing wind velocity. In the XY plane, the safety zone area and length extend by 1.26 times and 1.33 times, respectively. The horizontal plane creates a greater growth rate of safety zone than the vertical plane. The drum rotation creates a wind circumfluence that exerts an obvious effect on the dust distribution around the coal cutter. The sidewalk region mainly situates in the safety zone for the personal squat down, while it is gradually exposed to the dangerous dust pollution situation as the breathing height rises.

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Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

A :

cross-sectional area of roadway (m2)

C :

dust concentration

c :

dust concentration (kg/m3)

C D :

drag coefficient

d :

particle diameter (m)

E :

energy of fluid medium (J)

F :

F = (Fx, Fy, Fz) is the body force vector

F p :

particle diffusion force (N)

F x :

x direction body force (N)

F y :

y direction body force (N)

F z :

z direction body force (N)

G k :

turbulence kinetic energy (m2/s2)

K :

diffusion coefficient

k :

conductivity coefficient (W/(m·K))

m p :

particle mass (kg)

R eH :

Reynolds number by hydraulic diameter

R e p :

Reynolds number

S :

contact perimeter of fluid and solid

S E :

energy from the source term (J)

T :

temperature (K)

t :

time (s)

U :

U = (ux, uy, uz) is the air velocity vector

u x :

x direction velocity component (m/s)

u y :

y direction velocity component (m/s)

u z :

z direction velocity component (m/s)

v :

average wind velocity in roadway (m/s)

W s :

work done by surface stress (J)

Y d :

particle mass fraction (diameter > d)

ρ :

fluid density (kg/m3)

ρ p :

density of dust particle (kg/m3)

∇p :

pressure gradient (Pa/m)

μ :

dynamic viscosity of air (Pa·s)

σ k :

turbulent Prandtl numbers of k

σ e :

turbulent Prandtl numbers of e

\( \overrightarrow{u_{\mathrm{r}}} \) :

velocity of the moving frame relative to the inertial reference frame (m/s)

\( \overrightarrow{\omega} \) :

angular velocity (rad/s)

ς :

normally distributed random number

\( \overrightarrow{\mu} \) :

air velocity vector (m/s)

\( {\overrightarrow{\mu}}_{\mathrm{p}} \) :

particle velocity vector (m/s)

\( \overrightarrow{F} \) :

external forces on dust particles (N)

τ r :

particle relaxation time (s)

\( {\overrightarrow{F}}_{\mathrm{f}} \) :

pressure gradient force (N)

\( {\overrightarrow{F}}_{\mathrm{S}} \) :

Saffman lift force (N)

\( \overline{d} \) :

mean diameter (m)

u ′ :

turbulent fluctuating velocity (m/s)

\( \overline{u} \) :

turbulence mean velocity (m/s)

\( \overrightarrow{v_{\mathrm{r}}} \) :

relative velocity (m/s)

\( \overrightarrow{v} \) :

absolute velocity (m/s)

\( \overrightarrow{v_{\mathrm{t}}} \) :

translational frame velocity (m/s)

\( \varsigma \sqrt{{\overline{u}}^{\prime 2}} \) :

root mean square of the fluctuating velocity (m/s)

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52074304, 51704299), Open Research Project of the State Key Laboratory of Coal Resources and Safe Mining (SKLCRSM17KFA10), Open Research Project of State Key Laboratory Cultivation Base for Gas Geology and Gas Control (WS2018A03), and Yue Qi Young Scholar Program of China University of Mining and Technology, Beijing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Emergency Management and Safety Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), Beijing, 100083, People’s Republic of China

    Xin-xiao Lu, Cheng-yan Wang, Yun Xing, Cong Shen & Guo-yu Shi

  2. State Key Laboratory Cultivation Base for Gas Geology and Gas Control, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo, 454150, People’s Republic of China

    Xin-xiao Lu

  3. State Key Laboratory of Coal Resources and Safe Mining, China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), Beijing, 100083, People’s Republic of China

    Xin-xiao Lu

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  1. Xin-xiao Lu
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  2. Cheng-yan Wang
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  3. Yun Xing
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  4. Cong Shen
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  5. Guo-yu Shi
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Contributions

XXL conceived, designed, and wrote the paper. CYW and YX conducted the Fluent 2020 R1 simulation and data analysis. CS and GYS collated the simulation data and performed the statistical analysis. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Xin-xiao Lu.

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Lu, Xx., Wang, Cy., Xing, Y. et al. Investigation on the dust migration behavior and safety zone in the fully mechanized mining face. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 20375–20392 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-12050-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-12050-x

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