Review of Real-Time Respirable Dust Survey Findings in Australian Coal Mines

Abstract

Over the last 12 years, more than 20 real-time respirable dust surveys have been undertaken at various longwall and development faces in eight Australian underground coal mines by the authors. A number of the surveys were done in a series to monitor the improvements of dust conditions from various dust control devices or strategies applied in these mines or to evaluate the effectiveness of these devices. These real-time respirable dust surveys were conducted using state of art real-time Personal Dust Monitors (PDMs), a prototype of a continuous personal dust monitor (CPDM) recently introduced in US coal mines by the 2014 US MSHA final dust rules. The PDM was introduced into the Australian coal mining industry through an ACARP funded research project to evaluate the real-time PDM for personal respirable dust evaluation use particularly in engineering studies. This paper attempts to review the findings from these surveys undertaken in Australian coal mines. They provide guidance for performing effective, efficient and practical way real-time respirable dust surveys in an engineering study in the future. This is especially important due to the recent progressing incidences of Coal Workers Pneumoconiosis (CWP) in the Australian coal mining industry.