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Preparation and evaluation of humic acid–based composite dust suppressant for coal storage and transportation

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Abstract

To mitigate environmental pollution caused by the escape of dust during coal storage and transportation, humic acid (HA) and grafted acrylamide (AM) were used as raw materials to prepare a composite dust suppressant suitable for coal storage and transportation. Single-factor experiments were used to explore the optimal synthesis conditions of the dust suppressant, and the microstructure of the product was studied using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and other methods. The wetting effect of the dust suppressant on coal was also investigated by way of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The experimental results showed that the dust suppressant had good wind erosion resistance (wind erosion rate 10.2%), shock resistance (loss rate 3.63%), and anti-evaporation performance, while the MD simulation and permeability analysis results showed that the dust suppressant had an excellent wetting effect on the coal surface. SEM images revealed that the dust suppressant can fill the gaps between coal dust particles and bond them together to form a consolidated layer, thereby effectively inhibiting the escape of dust sources during coal storage and transportation.

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Funding

Funding for this work was provided by the Key Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 42077444, 51674038, 51874193, 51934004); the National Key Technologies R&D Program of China (grant number 2018YFC0807900); the Shandong Province Natural Science Foundation (grant numbers ZR2020ME101, ZR2018JL019); the Shandong Province Science and Technology Development Plan (grant number 2017GSF220003); Shandong Province First Class Subject Funding Project (grant number 01AQ05202); the Taishan Scholars Project Special Funding in Shandong Province, China (grant number TS20190935); the Taishan Scholar Talent Team Support Plan for Advantaged & Unique Discipline Areas.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Safety and Environmental Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266590, Shandong, China

    Xiaoxiao Yu, Xiangming Hu, Weimin Cheng, Yanyun Zhao, Zhiang Shao, Di Xue & Mingyue Wu

  2. Key Lab of Mine Disaster Prevention and Control, College of Safety and Environmental Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266590, Shandong, China

    Xiangming Hu & Weimin Cheng

Authors
  1. Xiaoxiao Yu
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  2. Xiangming Hu
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  3. Weimin Cheng
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  4. Yanyun Zhao
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  5. Zhiang Shao
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  6. Di Xue
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  7. Mingyue Wu
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Contributions

Xiaoxiao Yu, Xiangming Hu, and Weimin Cheng conceived the work and designed the experiments. Xiaoxiao Yu and Di Xue analyzed single-factor experiments and synthesized the humic acid–based composite dust suppressant; Yanyun Zhao and Zhiang Shao analyzed the microstructure, 1H-NMR, and FTIR of dust suppressant; Zhiang Shao and Mingyue Wu analyzed performance characteristic of dust suppressant; Xiaoxiao Yu and Yanyun Zhao analyzed molecular dynamics simulations; Xiaoxiao Yu, Xiangming Hu, and Weimin Cheng wrote the manuscript with contributions from all authors.

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Correspondence to Xiangming Hu.

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Yu, X., Hu, X., Cheng, W. et al. Preparation and evaluation of humic acid–based composite dust suppressant for coal storage and transportation. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 17072–17086 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16685-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16685-2

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