Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Scale Modeling Of Dust Capture Through A Flooded-Bed Dust Scrubber Integrated Within A Longwall Shearer, Sampurna Arya, Ashish Kumar, Kozo Saito, Thomas Novak, Adam Levy

Progress in Scale Modeling, an International Journal

Meeting federal dust standards at a longwall mine face is among the more difficult challenges for a longwall mine operator. With recent changes in federal dust regulations requiring lower worker exposure, maintaining compliance has become increasingly difficult. The authors recommend the concept of controlling respirable and float dust, which is inherent in longwall mining, through the application of a flooded-bed dust scrubber to a longwall shearer. A full-scale physical model of a longwall shearer, modified with an integrated flooded-bed scrubber, was designed and fabricated at the University of Kentucky to measure the effects of a flooded-bed scrubber on dust capture …