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Parameters to be considered in water infusing for dust control.

Deul M

Proceedings of the symposium on respirable coal mine dust, Washington, DC, November 3-4, 1969. Gooding RM, ed. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, IC 8458, 1970 Jan; :133-152

10000578

The fracture permeability of coal is the single most important factor in establishing the effectiveness of water infusion. High rates of waterflow into coalbeds indicate that large fractures exist in the coal. Low flow rates at high infusion pressures indicate a low-permeability coal. Experience with water infusion into solid coal through long holes sealed near the deep end of the hole indicates that such coal has a low permeability to water, on the order of tens of millidarcys. Very high pressure pumps are required to move a mass of water several hundred feet through a coalbed, and flow rates are usually limited to less than 10 gpm. Consequently a five-entry face area 500 feet wide may require infusion at high pressures for as long as 3 or 4-days. Even if coal is "totally" infused along the major fracture openings, the effectiveness of water infusion in controlling respirable dust when using continuous miners is questionable, because the newly fractured surfaces formed by rapidly moving cutting bits provide the major proportion of respirable dust. If disappointing results are to be avoided in full-scale operations, it is recommended that the pertinent physical properties of the coal be established first.

Mining; Mining industry; Coal mining; Dust control; Dust control equipment; Respirable dust

19700101

IH; Conference/Symposia Proceedings

Gooding RM

1970

PRC

Proceedings of the symposium on respirable coal mine dust, Washington, DC, November 3-4, 1969.

PA