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A Second Case Study of Field Test Results for Comparison of Roof Bolter Dry Collection System with Wet Collection System

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Abstract

Silicosis is an occupational respiratory disease that roof bolter operators are susceptible. It is caused by overexposure to respirable quartz dust (RCS) and has no cure and may ultimately be fatal. The only method of prevention of silicosis is by preventing exposure to RCS. The wet box collection system is a newly developed dust collection system for roof bolting machines, a modification of the existing dry box collection system utilizing water to saturate the material that is collected by the dust collection system. Testing was conducted for 3 days on a dual boom roof bolter with the wet box installed on the left side and the dry box installed on the right side. Sampling, using the coal mine dust personal sampling unit (CMDPSU), during cleaning of the collector boxes demonstrated that using the wet box dust collection system instead of the dry box dust collection system can reduce RCS exposures during cleaning of the collector boxes by 71% (day 1), 82% (day 2), and 88% (day 3). In addition, the quartz content of samples collected during cleaning of the wet box was 0.0%, while the quartz content of the samples collected when cleaning the dry box was 4.6%, 10.3%, and 7.4%.

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Notes

  1. MRE is the UK Mining Research Establishment which used a sampler designed specifically to match the UK British Medical Research Council (BMRC) criterion (Page et al., 2008).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CDC-NIOSH, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    W. R. Reed, S. S. Klima & A. Mazzella

  2. J.H. Fletcher & Co., Inc., Huntington, WV, USA

    G. Ross & G. Roberts

  3. Mountain Coal Company, West Elk Mine, Somerset, CO, USA

    J. Deluzio

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  1. W. R. Reed
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  2. S. S. Klima
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  3. A. Mazzella
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  4. G. Ross
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Correspondence to W. R. Reed.

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Reed, W.R., Klima, S.S., Mazzella, A. et al. A Second Case Study of Field Test Results for Comparison of Roof Bolter Dry Collection System with Wet Collection System. Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration 39, 993–1006 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42461-022-00608-x

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