Enhancement of healthy and eco-friendly mining operations by adopting wet drilling method: An Innovative Approach

Abstract

Drilling is an important operation of mining. Without drilling hardly any mine may be developed and worked. Drilling is such an operation which involved in creating pollution and health hazard. While dry drilling the cuttings of the stone along with fine dust is thrown out of the hole with air pressure and the driller remains directly close in touch and inhale this thrown out dust specially while drilling with jackhammer. Dry Jackhammer drilling also pollute the atmosphere with the evolution of dust in the air, containing silica particles and other crucial hard mineral particles which are dangerous for living existence. As such wet drilling can overcome the dust evolution and will suppress the dust and keep healthy inhalable atmospheric conditions. Keyboard: - Jackhammer wet-drilling, protective nut, adaptor, nozzle etc. I. INTRODUCTION Most of mines producing building stone such as sandstone, Kota stone, marble, granite, silica-sand, asbestos, manganese, feldspar and quartz or any other hard minerals require constant jackhammer drillings. These stone mines are based on the silica contents of rocks. Therefore during dry drilling, the drillers are inhaling thrown out dust containing silica and also this dust pollutes the atmospheric air. The operators may suffer with Silicosis which is a chronic lung disease caused by inhaling silica dust. As such wet drilling can overcome the dust evolution and will suppress the dust and keep healthy inhalable atmospheric conditions. II. DRILLING SUGGESTED MODIFICATION Authors are proposing to develop a simple modified method of wet drilling with jackhammer. This method involves no expenditure and not much extra labor except only an understanding to keep an eco-friendly atmosphere at drilling operations. Authors propose simple modifications in the ordinary jackhammer as detailed below: 1. The top head protective nut and adapter has to be drilled hole of 1.5 mm through the top head. 2. The protective nut hole should be joined with 2 mm nozzle with gas welding as shown in fig. no. 1 3. In the adapter hole, pass a 1.5 mm steel hollow tube of 20 cm. length and get it gas welded at the top around the side of the tube keeping the hole clear for passing water through it as shown in the fig no. 1