Considerations for Estimating Remote Operator Dust Exposure Using Fixed-Point Samples on Continuous Mining Sections

Respirable dust studies were conducted at several underground coal mining operations to evaluate and compare the dust measurements of fixed-point machine-mounted samples on a continuous miner and personal samples of the remote miner operator. Fixed-point sampling was conducted at the right rear corner of the continuous miner which corresponded to the traditional location of the operator\u27s cab. Although it has been documented that higher concentrations of dust are present at the machine-mounted position, this work sought to determined whether a relationship exists between the concentrations at the fixed-point position and the dust levels experienced at the remote operator position and whether this relationship could be applied on a industry-wide basis. To achieve this objective, gravimetric samplers were used to collect respirable dust data on continuous miner sections. These samplers were placed at a fixed position at the cab location of the continuous mining machine and on or near the remote miner operator during the 1 shift/day sampling periods. Dust sampling took place at mines with a variety of geographic locations and in-mine conditions. The dust concentration data collected at each site and for each sampling period were reduced to ratios of fixed-point to operator concentration. The ratios were calculated to determine similarities, differences, and/or variability at the two positions. The data show that dust concentrations at the remote operator position were always lower than dust concentrations measured at the fixed-point continuous miner location. However, the ratios of fixed-point to remote operator dust levels showed little consistency from shift to shift or from operation to operation. The fact that these ratios are so variable may introduce some uncertainty into attempting to correlate dust exposures of the remote operator to dust levels measured on the continuous mining machine

Design practices for multiple-seam longwall mines /

Includes bibliographical references (pages 34-35).Mode of access: Internet

Direct measurement of longwall strata behavior : a case study /

Bibliography: p. 19.Mode of access: Internet

Longwall retreat of gate road pillars /

Includes bibliographical references (p. 11).Mode of access: Internet

Analysis and design considerations for superimposed longwall gate roads /

Includes bibliographical references (page 14).Mode of access: Internet

The Effects of a retreating longwall on a three-entry gate road system /

Bibliography: p. 18-19.Mode of access: Internet