New Respirable Dust Suppression Systems for Coal Mines

Dust suppression in coal mines is a worldwide problem which has not been solved effectively. The application of negative pressure secondary dust removal (NPSDR) is a breakthrough in the coal mine safety field. In this paper, NPSDR technology and ultrasonic dust suppression systems are introduced. High pressure water is supplied to the NPSDR device which is mounted on the shearer. A negative pressure field is formed in the device. At the same time, the dusty air around the shearer drum will be sucked into, and purged from, the NPSDR device by the negative pressure field. An ultrasonic dust suppression system uses water and compressed air to produce micron sized droplets which suppress respirable coal dust effectively. The NPSDR technology can be used for shearer dust suppression while ultrasonic dust suppression can be applied in areas such as the transportation positions. These dust suppression methods have the following advantages: high efficiency, wide applicability, simple structure, high reliability and low cost.