Recently, the achievement titled R&D and Application of Key Technologies for Precise Dust Control and Efficient Personal Protection in Large Underground Coal Mines, developed by China Shenhua’s Shendong Coal, was appraised as internationally leading by the China National Coal Association.
This achievement is a major outcome of the top ten scientific and technological research projects under CHN Energy’s 2020 program Research on Dust and Occupational Disease Prevention and Control in Underground Coal Mines. It has been implemented at Daliuta Coal Mine, Shigetai Coal Mine, and the Halagou Coal Preparation Plant, establishing an end-to-end technical system for preventing and controlling occupational diseases caused by coal mine dust, integrating dust control at the point of generation, dust reduction along its dispersion pathway, and personal protection as the final safeguard.
Dust control is directly related to work safety in underground coal mines and the occupational health of workers, and is a key topic that the coal industry urgently needs to solve. In response to the industry’s long-standing prominent problem that dust is “inaccurately measured, poorly controlled, and inadequately prevented,” technical research has focused on monitoring, control, and protection.
In monitoring, a full-scale simulation experimental platform and a high-precision testing platform for mine dust aerosol prevention and control have been built; the dust evolution patterns at mining and excavation working faces and the deposition mechanism of dust in the human respiratory system have been clarified; synchronous monitoring equipment for total dust and respirable dust for mining use has been developed; a rapid detection method for dust composition has been established; and a monitoring and early warning system for miners’ respirable dust exposure has been developed, making dust status perceptible and data accurately measurable.
In control, based on multiple operation scenarios such as mining and excavation working faces and coal preparation plants, a five-in-one complete equipment set has been developed, comprising dust extraction and purification, atomization dust reduction, along-path purification, physical dust isolation, and entrainment dust control, achieving dust source tracking and source-specific precise treatment. For coal preparation plant operations, key technologies such as enclosed negative-pressure extraction of guide chutes and gas-liquid two-phase induced spraying have been overcome; a human-machine-environment integrated digital network for dust monitoring and control has been built, achieving real-time perception of dust concentration and adaptive adjustment to dust removal equipment.
In personal protection, the project has developed high-efficiency low-resistance self-priming half masks, coal mine safety-certified powered air-purifying full-face masks, and dustproof and waterproof integrated mining protective clothing, establishing a complete set of efficient personal protective equipment. Relying on highly responsive human exhaled breath sensor chips, an exhaled-breath electronic nose screening device has been developed, a miners’ exhaled breath database has been built, and a technical path for early screening of pneumoconiosis has been formed.
This research has achieved several landmark industry breakthroughs: for the first time, real-time exposure monitoring and early warning of miners’ respirable dust has been realized, filling an industry technical gap; the five-in-one dust prevention and control equipment set can carry out different and efficient treatment of various dust sources, improving dust reduction efficiency; micro-nano multi-stage fiber dust masks combine wearing comfort with high filtration performance; and the exhaled-breath electronic nose screening device opens a new path for early screening and intervention of pneumoconiosis.
Shendong Coal will accelerate the large-scale promotion and application of this scientific and technological achievement, remain committed to protecting miners’ occupational health through scientific and technological innovation, and inject impetus into the safe and stable supply of the energy industry through technology.
