One of the primary concerns in underground coalmining is the control of dust in working areas where highlyproductive machines are used. Coal dust occurrence andsubsequent deposition or dispersion in working areas is apotential hazard. If a methane explosion occurs, coal dustscontribute to the explosion which then become exceedinglyviolent and constitute a persistent hazard to miners. The airbornerespirable dust, on the other hand, can cause pneumoconiosis ifinhaled and deposited in the lungs. The use of water is Still themost effective and economical means of dust control inunderground coal mines today. However, water is not a verygood wetting agent due to it's high surface tension. Surfactantsadded to water can increase dust wetting and capturing capacityby affecting both the surface tension of the liquid and itsinterfacial tension against a solid.In this paper, a general outline of using surfactants was giventogether with the results of an ongoing research, usingpetroleum refinery wastes as wetting agent for coal dust. Afterinitial suppression-dispersion and agglomeration tests, it wasfound that even small concentration of the wastes in waterincreased the suppresibility of coal dusts by almost 10 timescompared to water alone. The particle size of coal dusts afterwetting were also increased by almost 10 times.
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