Limiting Dust at the Working Face Driven at "Bogdanka" Coal Mine

Abstract

The paper studies the issue of reducing the dust hazard at a driven working face. The use of mining machines with drum milling cutting heads is the main reason for the increase in the amount of dust released at workplaces in mining industry. If, in the cross-section of the working, the coal seam is accompanied by rocks, such as sandstone, sandy shales and clay shales, the range of the dust zone hampers the machine operator’s maneuvers with a mining shearer, and the high level of respirable dust concentration covers the face zone. Effective dust control in this case depends primarily on a properly designed ventilation and dedusting systems, in addition to the existing spraying system. The article presents an innovative method of dust reduction on the example of the driven upper longwall gallery 4/VI/385 at “Bogdanka” Coal Mine.