Field Testing of Roof Bolter Canopy Air Curtain Operating Downwind of the Continuous Miner
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Field Testing of Roof Bolter Canopy Air Curtain Operating Downwind of the Continuous Miner William R. Reed 1
&
Michael Shahan 1 & Vasu Gangrade 1 & Garron Ross 2 & Kunal Singh 3 & Todd Grounds 3
Received: 24 April 2020 / Accepted: 21 September 2020 # This is a U.S. government work and its text is not subject to copyright protection in the United States; however, its text may be subject to foreign copyright protection 2020
Abstract Roof bolter canopy air curtains (CACs) are gaining acceptance as a respirable dust control device that can provide roof bolter operators with protection from overexposure to respirable coal mine dust. Both lab and field studies on the effectiveness of roof bolter CACs have been published. Field studies have shown the effectiveness to be variable. However, in all previous field studies, none has been conducted when the roof bolting machine operates downwind of the continuous miner (CM)—a scenario for which the CAC was designed to provide respirable dust control. This study, performed by researchers from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), was conducted to test a CAC on a roof bolter machine operating downwind of the CM. The results of testing demonstrated that the roof bolter CAC can effectively provide respirable dust protection for roof bolter operators with dust control efficiencies ranging from 11 to 40%. Keywords Coal . Roof bolter . Respirable dust . Underground mining
1 Introduction The roof bolter canopy air curtain (CAC) is integrated into the roof bolter canopy under which the bolter operator works when bolting a 6.1- to 12.2-m entry. The CAC provides filtered air, blown over the operator, through a plenum built into the roof bolter canopy. This filtered air serves as a curtain
* William R. Reed [email protected] Michael Shahan [email protected] Vasu Gangrade [email protected] Garron Ross [email protected] Kunal Singh [email protected] Todd Grounds [email protected] 1
CDC-NIOSH, Pittsburgh, PA 15236, USA
2
J.H. Fletcher & Co, Inc., Huntington, WV 25705, USA
3
Lively Grove Mine, Prairie State Generating Company, LLC, Marissa, IL 62257, USA
which is designed to protect the operator from elevated respirable dust levels by providing the filtered air to the operator and by redirecting contaminated ventilation airflow away from the bolter operator’s breathing zone. Roof bolter CACs have been tested in the lab to determine their dust control efficiencies. Only recently has testing of the CAC in the field occurred. During initial field testing by NIOSH researchers in 2011, the reductions in respirable coal mine dust concentrations compared the operator under the CAC with an operator underneath an unmodified canopy. The reductions while using the CAC were 53% and 35% at the two roof bolter locations measured. No additional data was obtained due to maintenance issues of the CAC [1]. A second round of field testing was completed by NIOSH researchers in 2016. The testing compared the respirable coal dust concentration at the roof bolter operator
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