Numerical analysis on migration of shearer-generated dust in mechanized coal mining workface

Abstract

The operating environment is polluted so seriously by shearer-generated dust that the shearer operators are one of most susceptible workers of coal pneumoconiosis in the mechanized coal mining workface of underground coal mines. In this work, we take 2214 mechanized coal mining workface of Liujialiang Coalmine in Xuangang Coal and Power Company Limited of Jinneng Holding Equipment Manufacturing Group as an example, and study the migration law of shearer-generated dust by numerical simulation. The results indicate that the falling height of the dust produced by the front cutting drum is more than that by the back one of the dual drum coal mining machine. The influence of equipment layout and strong turbulent air flow on the migration of coal dust produced by the front cutting drum is so great that they are quickly transported horizontally to the working area of the shearer operators, especially pathogenic dust below 5 μm, which is an important factor that causes the shearer operators to suffer from pneumoconiosis easily. The numerical simulation results are consistent with the field measurement of workface 2214.

Keywords

• shearer-generated dust
• shearer operator
• dust migration
• pulvation airflow
• pneumoconiosis