Dust creates health and safety issues in mining, and there are several different ways to reduce the amount of respirable dust that is created. Dust particles also affect the operation and efficiency of mining equipment. One device currently used to reduce dust in a coal mine is a flooded-bed dust scrubber. These types of scrubbers are found on continuous miners and are designed to capture dust particles close to the cutting head. However, the fibrous screens on the flooded-bed dust scrubber clog easily, reducing both production and the quality and quantity of air to which miners are exposed. The flooded-bed dust scrubber was designed in the 1980's and has not seen any significant improvements since then for in-mine applications. A Vortecone is a wet scrubber system designed to capture small particles in the air, and it can easily replace the flooded-bed dust scrubber system on a continuous miner. The Vortecone was initially developed to capture oversprayed paint particles, and due to its capture ability, was converted to the mining industry. The first design of the Vortecone had two outlets and a large pressure drop across the system. The Vortecone was redesigned for mining to have one outlet in order to increase confinement time of particles and thus increase capture abilities. Using CFD analysis and laboratory testing, the redesigned Vortecone has proven to have lower resistance than the original design as well as the conventional screens currently used. The Vortecone also proved to have a high capture efficiency at high airflows. This maintenance-free wet scrubber device requires much less maintenance than a conventional screen and thus can be used continually without interrupting production. The Vortecone has been designed so it can easily be mounted onto a continuous miner in place of the currently used scrubbers.
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