Abstract
Despite the increasing reliance on alternative and renewable energy sources in recent years, coal is set to continue being the most vital element of the global energy sector. The world coal supply (1,070 billion tons) shall last for 130 years with the current mining levels. In contrast to some large countries (such as the USA and Germany) reducing their coal production and consumption, Russia plans to increase the coal production levels as part of its strategy regarding the future of the coal mining industry. The annual volume of coal output is more than 440 million tons, 1/3 of which is extracted underground. The current and projected levels of underground coal mining present a set of issues pertaining to elevated dust concentration in the air and increased dust dispersion. High dust concentration in the air leads to damage to the skin, mucous membranes and respiratory organs of workers. Also, with high dust content, visibility in the longwalls decreases, the risk of injury and accidents increases. The present article deals with the formation of detrimental dust conditions that happen in the course of cleaning and preparatory mining operations in coal mines. The article reviews the international practices on dust reduction in coal mining operations and provides an overview of studies on dustiness levels and airborne dust composition in longwall faces of coal mines. It also presents mathematical models dealing with projections on dust composition, including projections on most hazardous dust particles the size of 0.1-10 and 0.1-35 μm. The article also presents a newly developed wetting method showing increased effectiveness.
Highlights
The current state of the global energy industry is such that, despite the commitment from the leading countries to decrease carbon emissions, eliminating the reliance on coal does not appear to be a viable option for a number of reasons
The goal of the present study is to develop suggestions, recommendations, and practical solutions for dust reduction in the longwall faces of coal mines
– on-site measuring of dustiness levels in high-yielding longwall faces at various Russian coal mines;
Summary
The current state of the global energy industry is such that, despite the commitment from the leading countries to decrease carbon emissions, eliminating the reliance on coal does not appear to be a viable option for a number of reasons. Energy from coal amounts to 27% of the global energy mix (as of 2019). At current consumption levels, the global coal reserves should last for 132 years, and for some areas — even longer Global coal reserves are estimated to contain 1,070 billion tons. Despite some decline in coal consumption in 2019 and a drop in global coal prices, the coal industry remains promising and continues expanding (BP Statistical Review of World Energy, 2020)
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