Analysis and comparison of airflow-respirable dust control and innovative ventilation environment in drilling construction tunnels

Abstract

Constructing underground spaces via drilling and blasting methods encounters severe dust pollution. In this paper, an improved and efficient attached ventilation system was presented. A 1:1 proportional numerical simulation model was established and validated by on-site tests. Research results showed that the dust concentration in the driller respiratory regions under the attached ventilation mode was 6.4%–8.7% lower than that under traditional forced ventilation, and when the aspect ratio of the duct was less than 1:20 and the distance from the duct to the tunnel wall ranged from 400 mm to 800 mm, the dust concentration in the respiratory region could be reduced by a maximum of 27.3%. If the ventilation system installation position could be adjusted, the preferred locations for the ventilation system installation position could be ordered as the bottom, vault, and haunch of the arch. The dust concentrations of the four personnel respiratory regions were 54.9, 58.9, 56.1, and 76.1 mg/m3, respectively, when the attached ventilation system was located at the bottom of the arch. Therefore, with this optimized ventilation system, the dust generated by drilling can be controlled, and the dust control performance is significantly improved.