Underground Application of Foam for Suppression of Respirable Dust.

摘要

A field program was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of high expansion foam to control the respirable dust generated by continuous coal mining machinery in underground bituminous coal mines. Shearer,auger,and fixed head ripper machines were used. Average respirable dust concentrations over a production shift were investigated using foam or conventional water sprays. The contractor concluded from a statistical analysis of the results that foam reduced the respirable dust by about 25% compared to water sprays but that reductions as high as 60% were observed in some cases. However,the field data had a wide spread and therefore may be subject to alternative interpretations.