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| The handbook is a comprehensive summary of practical dust control technology for all aspects of mining |
Description of Problem
Over the last 30 years, much successful research has been done by NIOSH and the former U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) to reduce dust in mines. However, no comprehensive summary of practical dust control technology for mining industry personnel had been published. The information was available, but was scattered among a variety of publications. Therefore, it was hard to put together a comprehensive dust control plan for mines that addressed all required aspects of the plan.
Research and Development Activities
NIOSH used all of the available information from past NIOSH and USBM research and combined the information into a Handbook for Dust Control in Mining. This 131-page handbook describes methods for controlling mineral dusts in mines. Dust control methods are described for underground coal and hard-rock mines, as well as surface mines, stone mines, and hard-rock tunnels. The information is assembled in a way that is user-friendly and according to easy-to-find topics.
R&D Outputs and Transfer Activities
The handbook was published in June 2003. We have received hundreds of requests for the handbook by labor and industry organizations worldwide, and we have handed out the handbook at training sessions and conferences. We did several things to make the handbook "Web-friendly" in order to facilitate technology transfer:
- File size was minimized to make downloads faster.
- Text and figure size were maximized for easier reading on a computer screen.
- The text was single-column (rather than double-column) for easier reading on a computer screen.
- The Adobe Acrobat bookmark feature was used to produce an on-line index. This allows the reader to instantly move to any desired location in the document, instead of tediously scrolling through a large document.
The handbook is currently available on the NIOSH Mining Website.
Description of Intermediate Outcome
A key impact is that years of useful and practical dust control technology information is now consolidated into one easily usable format. Thus, the probability of its application in the mining industry is greatly enhanced. The handbook has been widely distributed within the U.S. mining industry. It has received positive notice from many foreign mining websites. Nevertheless, the main impact comes from the technology cited within the handbook. Most of the technology was developed by NIOSH or the USBM. It continues to have lasting impact on industry practice. Some of the major successes are:
- Shearer-clearer systems on longwall shearers.
- Spray nozzle application on continuous miners and longwall shearers.
- Deep cutting with dust scrubbers on continuous miners.
- Face curtains to control longwall ventilation.
- New sampling methods to find dust sources.
- New stopping construction methods for mine entries with a large cross-section.
- Improved dust control for surface drills.
- New methods for conveyor belt dust control.
- Dust control methods for hard-rock tunnels.