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Published on: June 8, 2015
Development of a roof bolter canopy air curtain for respirable dust control
W R Reed1, G J Joy1, B Kendall1
1W.R. Reed, member SME, G.J. Joy and Y. Zheng, member SME, are lead research mining engineer, senior scientist and associate service fellow, respectively, at the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Pittsburgh, PA, USA, while B. Kendall, member SME, and A. Bailey are director of new business development and design engineer & documentation manager, respectively, at J.H. Fletcher & Co., Huntington, WV, USA.
Abstract:
Testing of the roof bolter canopy air curtain (CAC) designed by the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has gone through many iterations, demonstrating successful dust control performance under controlled laboratory conditions. J.H. Fletcher & Co., an original equipment manufacturer of mining equipment, further developed the concept by incorporating it into the design of its roof bolting machines. In the present work, laboratory testing was conducted, showing dust control efficiencies ranging from 17.2 to 24.5 percent. Subsequent computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis revealed limitations in the design, and a potential improvement was analyzed and recommended. As a result, a new CAC design is being developed, incorporating the results of the testing and CFD analysis.
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