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Numerical Modeling of a Flooded-Bed Dust Scrubber Integrated into a Longwall Shearer

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Abstract

Dust generation and its dispersion in a longwall mine pose significant health and safety issues. The concern is prominent at both the working face, where coal excavation exposes workers to high dust concentrations, and also in the return, where float dust accumulates. To address this issue, researchers at the University of Kentucky designed and fabricated a flooded-bed dust scrubber integrated into a full-scale physical model of a longwall shearer. This mock-up was installed in the longwall test gallery at the Pittsburgh Research Laboratory (PRL) of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). A full-factorial experiment was designed to measure the effectiveness of the scrubber on dust capture. Test results indicated dust reduction of up to 57% in the return airways. This paper presents the development of a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model and its validation by comparing the simulation results against the experimental results. The CFD simulations show good agreement with experimental results with differences between + 6.9 and − 9.7%. The validated CFD model was used further to predict the scrubber performance under additional operating conditions, resulting in a dust reduction of up to 66.5%. With this level of success, the scrubber concept can be a game changer for the mining industry, and it can be utilized to improve health and safety in longwall mines.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful for the generous support from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) for the laboratory testing. We also want to thank personnel from Joy Global, Inc. (now Komatsu America Corp.) and the Tunnel Ridge Mine (Alliance Coal, LLC) for their assistance.

Funding

Funding for this research was provided by the Alpha Foundation for the Improvement of Mine Safety and Health, Inc. (grant number AFC113-10).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mining and Geological Engineering, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA

    Sampurna Arya

  2. Department of Mining Engineering, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA

    Joseph Sottile & Thomas Novak

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  1. Sampurna Arya
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  2. Joseph Sottile
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Correspondence to Sampurna Arya.

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Arya, S., Sottile, J. & Novak, T. Numerical Modeling of a Flooded-Bed Dust Scrubber Integrated into a Longwall Shearer. Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration 37, 1105–1119 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42461-020-00240-7

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