Study about Influences of Wall-Attached Airduct Structure on Airflow and Dust at Fully-Mechanized Excavation Faces Based on CFD Techniques

Abstract

This study aimed to address dust pollution on fully-mechanized excavation face and took the fully-mechanized excavation face in Xiaobaodang Coal Mine as study case. Based on dust removal system by far-pressing-near-absorption ventilation, numerical simulation and underground test were combined to investigate the influences of three differently structured wall-attached airducts on airflow and dust on fully-mechanized excavation faces. Moreover, application validation was conducted on the site. The in-field application results demonstrated that the wall-attached airduct with the optimum structure determined by numerical simulation delivered good dust suppression performance underground. The maximum dust suppression efficiency reached 70.9% at sidewalk breathing zone height and average dust suppression efficiency was 59.5% in the range of 5–23m away from heading face. As for the driver activity position, the maximum dust suppression efficiency reached 76.4% there while the average dust suppression efficiency was 79.9% in the range with a distance of 7–17m to the heading face. It has been shown that the proposed structure could significantly promote fully-mechanized excavation faces’ working environment, to provide evidence for further enhancing the dust suppression performance of ventilation system characterized by far-pressing-near-absorption ventilation system