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Pittsburgh Mining Research Division Rock Dust Partnership Meeting - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Pittsburgh Mining Research Division Rock Dust Partnership Meeting December 5, 2017 NIOSH Mining Program Agenda Welcoming Comments Opening Comments NIOSH Progress to Date NIOSH Health Effects Laboratory Division NIOSH Pittsburgh


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SLIDE 1

Pittsburgh Mining Research Division

Rock Dust Partnership Meeting

December 5, 2017

NIOSH Mining Program

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SLIDE 2

Agenda

Welcoming Comments Opening Comments NIOSH – Progress to Date

  • NIOSH Health Effects Laboratory Division
  • NIOSH Pittsburgh Mining Research Division

Comments and Discussion – Future efforts Concluding Comments

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SLIDE 3

Opening comments

  • NIOSH – Dr. Jessica Kogel & Dr. R.J. Matetic
  • MSHA – Stan Michalek
  • IMA-NA – Mark Ellis
  • NSSGA – Emily Coyner
  • NLA – Hunter Prillaman/Bradford Frisby
  • NMA – Bruce Watzman
  • BCOA – Ed Green
  • UMWA – Josh Roberts
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SLIDE 4

Action Items from Last Meeting

  • Silica and toxicity data
  • Engineered rock dust
  • In-mine studies
  • Foamed rock dust
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SLIDE 5

Initial Partnership

Inconsistencies in available rock dust supply

  • Particle sizing
  • Dispersibility

Rock Dust Partnership

  • IMA-NA
  • NSSGA
  • National Lime Assoc.
  • MSHA

Test methods to assess rock dust quality Improving rock dust performance

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SLIDE 6

Expanded Partnership

Potential health effects

  • Respirable silica
  • Toxicological

Perceived respirable dust issues Industry

  • National Mining Assoc.
  • Bituminous Coal Operators Assoc.

Labor

  • United Mine Workers of America
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SLIDE 7

NIOSH Mining – Progress to Date

  • Rock dust toxicity – NIOSH/HELD
  • Large scale testing at Polish Central Mining Institute
  • Wrap-up of engineered rock dust
  • Foamed rock dust work
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SLIDE 8

Rock Dust Toxicity

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SLIDE 9

Toxi xicity Studies city Studies

  • f R
  • f Roc
  • ck D

k Dust Sam ust Samples ples.

(In vitro Assessmen In vitro Assessments) ts)

  • Dr. Anna A. Shvedova

NIOSH / HELD

Dec 5th 2017

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SLIDE 10

What Do We Know about Health Outcomes Elicited by Calcium Carbonate Dust ?

  • Eight

cases

  • f

suspected pneumoconiosis following inhalation of limestone dust with low silica content were described by Doig et al. (1953).

  • Granulomatous lesions containing limestone particulates were

reported in lungs of quarry worker (Crummy et al. 2004).

  • Limestone quarry workers had increased prevalence of

respiratory symptoms, e.g. various coughs, wheezing and shortness of breath (Bwayla et al. 2011).

  • Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis observed in marble-cutter in

Turkey (Case study: Yildirim et al. 2015).

  • Erasmus syndrome (pneumoconiosis) in marble worker, most

likely exposed to high silica concentrations (Bello et al. 2015).

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SLIDE 11

What Do We Know about Health Outcomes Elicited by Calcium Carbonate Dust ?

  • Increased IL-8 level (inflammation marker) in serum was

associated with limestone dust concentration and the duration

  • f exposure in limestone miners (Tolinggi et al. 2014)
  • Calcium carbonate dusts are not considered fibrogenic dusts,

but rather irritants (NIOSH guideline, 1995).

  • Co-exposure with silica is most likely responsible for COPD,

pneumoconiosis and fibrosis seen in limestone/marble workers:

  • Even though the level of silica is very low – it may still cause the

adverse outcomes in susceptible individuals (Doig et al., 1954, Crummy et al. 2004, Angotzi et al. 2005).

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SLIDE 12

Need for Developing Anti-caking Rock Dust

Coating with hydrophobic Stearate

  • Limestone-based rock dusts are used to prevent explosions

caused by high coal dust content in the air.

  • Treating limestone will provide better dispersion of the

materials.

  • Under humid conditions, limestone-based rock dusts have a

tendency to cake.

  • Treated limestone particles can fill the empty spaces

between the larger untreated limestone particles, preventing

  • r inhibiting the migration of water throughout the blend.
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SLIDE 13

Need for Developing Anti-Caking Rock Dust

NIOSH 2014 Study

  • Objective: To develop modified limestone based rock dust

blend(s) that are capable of :

  • Effectively dispersing (NIOSH dust dispersion chamber after being wetted, then

dried)

  • Increasing the inertness of coal dust (NIOSH 20-L explosibility chamber).
  • Recommendations: 20 – 25 μm untreated rock dust blended

with 10% + 2.5% of a 3 μm treated component (e.g., stearate).

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SLIDE 14

Anti-Caking Rock Dust

Treatment Details

Hydrophobic Tail Hydrophilic Head

Stearic Acid

Cao, Z. et al., 2016

During the treatment, stearic acid is adsorbed on the surface of CaCO3 particles by covalent bond between the stearic acid “head” group and Ca2+, forming a monolayer of hydrophobic molecules.

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SLIDE 15

Particle Characterization

Representative TEM images of respirable rock dust

Particles Investigated in the Current Study UL

  • Untreated Limestone

TL

  • Treated Limestone

UM

  • Untreated Marble

TM

  • Treated Marble

J-C Soo et al., 2016

Details of Collection: Respirable fractions of rock dusts were collected with FSP10 cyclones loaded with polyvinyl chloride filters (PVC, 5 µm pore size, 37 mm). The collected particles on PVC filters were washed with a mix of phosphate buffered saline and isopropyl alcohol. Then samples were centrifuged and dried.

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SLIDE 16

Particle Characterization

Aerodynamic particle size distribution of airborne rock dust

J-C Soo et al., 2016

Respirable fractions of rock dusts were collected with FSP10 cyclones loaded with polyvinyl chloride filters (PVC, 5 µm pore size, 37 mm). The collected particles on PVC filters were washed with a mix of phosphate buffered saline and isopropyl alcohol. Then samples were centrifuged and dried.

The mass median aerodynamic diameter (MMAD) of treated marble (TM) sample is lowest compared to other rock dust samples investigated.

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SLIDE 17

Particle Characterization

Average hydrodynamic diameter of respirable fraction of rock dust

UM UM

Zavg: 863 ± 31 nm

TM TM

Zavg: 1209 1209 ± 64 nm

The average size/distribution of rock dust samples were determined using DLS measurements. The hydrodynamic diameter (Zavg) from DLS were represented as mean ± SD. The reported Zavg values correspond to a mean of six different measurements.

The average size of treated marble (TM) rock dust sample was higher compared to other rock dust samples investigated.

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SLIDE 18

Hydrodynamic size measured of treated marble by DLS is highest between all

  • samples. Since the DLS measurements were

in aqueous solution – could it be due to the agglomeration of treated rock dust (through hydrophobic surfaces)?

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SLIDE 19

Other Particles: What we have seen?

Uncoated and Lignin-coated Nanocellulose Crystals and Fibers.

Particle Characterization

Agglomerated Dispersed

Figure: Characterization of nanocrystalline and microcrystalline cellulose samples. (A−E) AFM amplitude and (F-J) TEM images of CNC (A,F), L-CNC (B,G), CNF (C,H), L-CNF (D, I) and MCC (E,J). Scale bar in all AFM and TEM images corresponds to 500 nm and 200 nm, respectively.

Depending on the cellulose nanomaterial type and/or its morphology, lignin coating can lead to differential agglomeration/aggregation influencing their physicochemical properties in aqueous media.

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SLIDE 20

Other Particles: Toxicity Evaluation

Uncoated and Lignin-coated Nanocellulose Crystals and Fibers.

Experimental Details

CNC, LCNC, CNF, LCNF, MCC

  • r as

asbestos s exposur

  • sures

es

THP-1 cells

PMA stimulation

24h/7 4h/72h 2h post 24h/7 4h/72h 2h post A549 cells

Cellular Viability Inflammatory cytokines/chemokines

(Human 27-plex kit from Bio-RAD)

Viability Responses

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SLIDE 21

Other Particles: Toxicity Evaluation

Inflammatory Cytokine Responses

L-CNC < CNC L-CNF > CNF

The overall inflammatory responses in cells upon exposure to various concentrations of different NC materials investigated were in the order: CNC > L-CNF > CNF ≥ L-CNC ≥ MCC.

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SLIDE 22

Does Exposure to Different Rock Dust Samples Trigger Variable Biological Responses In Vitro? If so, what is the effect of treatment with stearic acid?

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SLIDE 23

In vitro Evidence for Discriminating between different Respirable Rock Dust

Similar Approach as Nanocellulose Materials Untreated Limestone

(or)

Treated Limestone

(or)

Untreated Marble

(or)

Treated Marble Cellular Viability/Damage Inflammatory cytokines/chemokines

(human 27-plex kit from Bio-RAD)

24h 4h/72 72h

A549 Human pulmonary alveolar epithelial cells

Particle Concentration’s:

  • 0 mg/ml
  • 0.025 mg/ml
  • 0.050 mg/ml
  • 0.100 mg/ml
  • 0.200 mg/ml
  • 0.500 mg/ml
  • 1.0 mg/ml
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SLIDE 24

In vitro Evidence for Discriminating between different Respirable Rock Dust

Cytotoxicity (viability) of various respirable rock dust samples

20 40 60 80 100 120

Viability, % of Control Exposure (mg/ml)

UL TL UM TM LPS

 

24 h

20 40 60 80 100 120

Viabiliy, % of Control Exposure (mg/ml)

      

72 h

LC LC50

50 (mg/

g/ml ml, , 72h) UL 0.41 TL 0.49 UM 0.46 TM 0.48 LPS 0.108

A dose- and time-dependent cytotoxicity was observed in A549 cells upon exposure to different respirable rock dust samples.

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SLIDE 25

In vitro Evidence for Discriminating between different Respirable Rock Dust

Cytotoxicity (cell damage) of various respirable rock dust samples

100 200 300 400 500

LDH (% of Contrlol) Exposure (mg/ml) UL TL UM TM

24 h

100 200 300 400 500

LDH (% of Contrlol)

Exposure (mg/ml)

UL TL UM TM

72 h

Representative TEM macrographs of A549 cells exposed to respirable rock dust (72h, 0.1 mg/ml)

Red arrows indicating particle uptake.

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SLIDE 26

In vitro Evidence for Discriminating between different Respirable Rock Dust

Inflammatory Cytokine/Chemokine Responses A Venn diagram presenting the responses in inflammatory mediators upon exposure of A549 cells to respirable rock dusts (0.1 mg/ml) for 72h.

Fold Change : ± 1.5

TM TM UL UL TL TL UM UM

IL-13 G-CSF PDGF-bb IL-17 FGF basic

IL-8

IL-1ra

IL-6 TNF-a

Eotaxin MIP-1b IP-10

Some cytokines are unique to treated marble (TM) samples.

Treated limestone (TL) revealed the lowest inflammatory response compared to other rock dust samples.

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SLIDE 27

In vitro Evidence for Discriminating between different Respirable Rock Dust

Hierarchical cluster analysis of cytokine profiles in A549 cells after 72h

The samples of A549 cells exposed to different concentrations of rock dust for 72h were clustered based on the Euclidean distance metric and ward.D2 clustering

  • method. The samples corresponding to different rock dust and several cytokines measured in supernatants were reordered based on their (dis-)similarities

according to the dendrogram on the top and left, respectively. Each branch in the dendrogram shows the similarity between samples, i.e., the shorter the branch, the more similar. The heat map colors represent log2 transformed fold change values of cytokines relative to the minimum and maximum of all values, increasing from red to green, in each case. A key showing the range of values is also shown in the figure.

Log2 (fold change)

Clustering analysis of the inflammatory cytokines/chemokines revealed an

  • verall stronger effect of marble compared to limestone samples. A clear

separation of marble rock dust from limestone samples was also observed.

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SLIDE 28

Summary

  • The results showed a dose-dependent cytotoxicity and

cell damage at 72 h in A549 cells, with the least effect upon exposure to treated limestone (TL).

  • The extent of inflammatory responses evaluated by the

number

  • f

cytokines released, increased with the concentration of tested materials.

  • Clustering

analysis

  • f

the inflammatory cytokines/chemokines revealed an

  • verall

stronger effect of marble (i.e., UM,TM) compared to limestone samples (i.e., UL,TL).

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SLIDE 29

Summary (cont.…)

  • Furthermore, untreated rock dust induced an overall

greater inflammatory response as compared to treated samples.

  • Similar to the cytotoxic and cell damage results, treated

limestone (TL) revealed the lowest inflammatory response compared to other samples.

  • Similar to what we have seen before in nanocellulose,

treatment related differences between limestone (TL) and marble (TM) samples were observed.

Overall, our results unveiled treatment related differences as well as material dependent changes in biological responses.

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SLIDE 30

Pulmonary Deposition

Respirable Rock Dust Samples

MMAD ~ (3.1 – 4.5)

MMAD ~ (1 – 2)

Alveolar Deposition Bronchial and Conducting Airways Deposition

* MMAD: D: Mass Median Aerodynamic Diameter

Fold Change : ± 1.5

Under In vivo conditions, allergic immune responses are characterized by the production of IL-13 and

  • ther cytokines.

There is strong need for animal studies to adequately address pulmonary toxicity responses of (un-)treated rock dust.

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SLIDE 31

Disclaimer: The findings and conclusions in this presentation are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The mention of any company names or products does not imply an endorsement by NIOSH or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nor does it imply that alternative products are unavailable, or unable to be substituted after appropriate evaluation.

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SLIDE 32

Th Than anks ks To To My My Co Coll llabo aborat rators

  • rs:
  • E. Kisin
  • T. Lee
  • N. Yanamala
  • T. Khaliullin
  • S. Guppi
  • D. Weissman
  • M. Harper

Fu Fund nding ng: : ?? ???

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SLIDE 33

Large-Scale Testing

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SLIDE 34

Large-scale Testing

Central Mining Institute Located in Mikołów, Poland Personnel

  • Experimental Mine Barbara
  • NIOSH PMRD

Objective

  • To determine whether an anti-caking

treatment would hinder the effectiveness of the rock dust

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SLIDE 35

Why Poland?

  • Length of entry – 400 m
  • Ignition method – methane/air mixture
  • Testing history and experience
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SLIDE 36

Lake Lynn Experimental Mine

  • Length of entry – 490 m
  • Ignition method – methane/air mixture
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SLIDE 37
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SLIDE 38

Test Setup

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SLIDE 39

Test Basis

Testing at EM Barbara was conducted on a comparative basis

  • Shipment of dust to Poland
  • Estimates of $26,000/ton of material
  • Insufficient d99 Polish coal dust for

large-scale testing

  • d38 coal dust ≈ medium coal dust (RI

9679)

  • Polish rock dust ≈ Reference rock dust

(RI 9679)

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SLIDE 40

The Polish coal dust and the Pittsburgh coal have similar properties

Pi Pitts ttsbur urgh gh Coa

  • al

Ba Barbar ara a d3 d38 Moi

  • istu

sture, e, % 1.7 2.9 Vol

  • lati

atili lity ty,% ,% 36.5 36.7 As Ash, , % 6.2 7.9

The Polish treated and untreated rock dusts perform similar to the Reference rock dust in the 20-L chamber

Rock ck Du Dust st Coal al Du Dust st % R Rock ck Du Dust st Iner erting ting % T TIC IC Ref eference erence d38 Polish 60 70.8 Polis ish h un untr treat eated ed d38 Polish 60 70.8 Polis ish h tr trea eated ed d38 Polish 60 70.8

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SLIDE 41

Tests conducted at EM Barbara

TIC TIC Roc

  • ck

k Dust st Typ ype NIOSH IOSH Test est # 50% TRD 4-6-8 50% NTRD 5-7-9 60% TRD 1-3-11 60% NTRD 2-10

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SLIDE 42

Explosion Pressure Time Histories

slide-43
SLIDE 43

Explosion Intensity

Nom

  • minal

inal TIC TIC Aver erage age Im Impulse pulse at 1 t 100 m (Ip/Ip ig

ig)

60% % TR TRD 7.7 (# 1, 3, 11) 60% % NTR TRD 11.8 (# 2, 10) 50% % TR TRD 15.6 (# 4, 6, 8) 50% % NTR TRD 16.7 (# 5, 7, 9)

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SLIDE 44

Polish Testing Conclusions

  • Inerting properties of the treated rock dust (TRD) are at least as good as those of the

non-treated rock dust (NTRD)

  • Experimental results suggest better performance of the treated rock dust at TIC values

larger than 50%

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SLIDE 45

Limitations

Tests conducted using homogenous coal dust/rock dust mixtures

  • No layering of dusts

Due to location, shipment of US dusts is cost prohibitive Tests conducted in higher relative humidity

  • (75% – 92%)
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SLIDE 46

Review of Stockton Mine Testing

Measured respirable dust downwind of application

  • Treated rock dust
  • Untreated rock dust

Moisture infiltrated untreated rock dust before application Applied the mine’s supply of rock dust to cover Administrative controls necessary when applying rock dust

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SLIDE 47

Experience with Treated Rock Dust Untreated Rock Dust Application in Mine

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SLIDE 48

Experience with Treated Rock Dust Treated Rock Dust Application in Mine

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SLIDE 49

Experience with Treated Rock Dust Untreated Rock Dust Initial Application 1 Year Later 2 Years Later

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SLIDE 50

Experience with Treated Rock Dust Treated Rock Dust Initial Application 1 Year Later 2 Years Later

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SLIDE 51

Comments from Others with Experience Using Treated Rock Dust

slide-52
SLIDE 52

Engineered Rock Dust

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SLIDE 53

Wh Why Engi y Engineered neered Roc

  • ck

k Du Dust? st?

  • Reduce or eliminate respirable component of the rock dust
  • Hence,
  • Should not contribute to CPDM readings
  • Should not contain respirable silica particles

Ide Ideal Engi al Engineere neered d Roc

  • ck

k Du Dust st

  • It should be as effective as the dry rock dust used to support 80% TIC rule
  • Should remain dispersible when applied to wet surfaces
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SLIDE 54

Par artic ticle le Si Size ze An Analy alysis sis and and Di Distr stribu ibution tion

Ref eference erence rock

  • ck du

dust st

  • ~30% of the mass
  • ~3% of the surface area

Classified RD using

  • Ro-Tap
  • Air Jet Sieve
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SLIDE 55

Per erform

  • rmance

ance As Asse sessm ssment Me ent Metho thods ds

  • Beckman-Coulter Particle Size Analyzer
  • 20-L Explosibility Test Chamber [ASTM E1515]
  • Dust Dispersion Chamber
  • Simple Caking Test

Beckman Coulter Optical Particle Size Analyzer

Simple Caking Test

“Overview of dust explosibility characteristics”. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries [2000], 13, pp.183-199, Cashdollar, K.L.

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SLIDE 56

20 20-L L Ex Explos plosibil ibility ity Cham Chamber ber Res esul ults ts for the

  • r the Roc
  • ck

k Du Dust as st as re recei ceived ed – Tre reat ated and ed and Un Untreat treated ed

Criteria for an explosion:

  • The maximum explosion

pressure ≥ 2 bar

  • The volume normalized rate of

pressure rise (dP/dt) V1/3 ≥ 1.5 bar-m-s-1

slide-57
SLIDE 57

Ine Inerting ting Rel elationshi ationship p of

  • f Eng

Engineere ineered d Ref eference erence Roc

  • ck

k Du Dust st

slide-58
SLIDE 58

20 20-L L Ex Explos plosibil ibility ity Cham Chamber ber Res esul ults ts for the

  • r the Eng

Engineere ineered d Roc

  • ck

k Du Dust st

Treated RD Untreated RD Size Fraction, µm Inert at 75% Inert at 75% 20-38 Inert Inert 20-75 Explosion Explosion 38-75 Explosion Explosion minus 38 Inert Inert minus 75 Inert Inert As-received rock dust Inert Inert

slide-59
SLIDE 59

Du Dust Di st Dispe spersion sion Cham Chambe ber

  • Based on LLEM coal dust explosion data
  • Generates a reproducible air pulse
  • 4.2 psi for 0.3 sec

“Design and development of a dust dispersion chamber to quantify the dispersibility of rock dust”, Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries [2016] Vol. 39, pp 7-16, Perera et al.

slide-60
SLIDE 60

Di Dispe spersion sion of

  • f Tre

reat ated and ed and Un Untreat treated ed Du Dusts sts Af After er Moi Moistu sture re Ex Exposu posure re

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SLIDE 61

Wi Will ll th the En Engi gine neere ered R d Roc

  • ck Dust

k Dust di disp sperse as se as well ll as as th the Referen rence ce du dust? st?

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SLIDE 62

Di Dispe spersion sion of

  • f Eng

Enginee ineered red Ref eference erence Roc

  • ck

k Du Dust st

slide-63
SLIDE 63

Wi Will ll the the Eng Enginee ineered red Roc

  • ck

k Du Dust ( st (Tre reat ated ed and and Un Untre treat ated) ine ed) inert as w t as wel ell as the l as the Ref eference erence dus dust? t?

slide-64
SLIDE 64

En Engi ginee neered R red Roc

  • ck

k Du Dust st 20 20-38 38 m

Rock Dust 20-L chamber Results at 75% RD Untreated A Inert Treated A Inert Untreated B Explosion Treated B Explosion Untreated C Inert Treated C Inert

slide-65
SLIDE 65

Wi Will ll th the Engi e Enginee neered R red Roc

  • ck

k Du Dust st (T (Treat reated) dis ed) dispe perse se whe when w n wett etted and ed and dri dried ed?

slide-66
SLIDE 66

Si Simpl mple Ca e Cakin king g Tes est t wi with th 20 20-38 38 mi micron siz cron size e fra fract ction ion

  • f T
  • f Tre

reat ated R ed Roc

  • ck

k Du Dust st

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SLIDE 67

Si Simpl mple Ca e Cakin king g Tes est t wi with th 20 20-38 38 mi micron siz cron size e fra fract ction ion

  • f T
  • f Tre

reat ated R ed Roc

  • ck

k Du Dust st

slide-68
SLIDE 68

Pil Pilot Sca t Scale le Eng Enginee ineered red Roc

  • ck

k Du Dust P st Par artic ticle le Si Size ze

5.9% < 10 µm 35.7% < 10 µm

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SLIDE 69

Preliminary Full-scale Dispersion Results

200 lb of RD dispersed

  • Pilot Scale Classified Rock Dust
  • Reference Rock Dust

CPDM positioned 100 ft and 500 ft downwind

Aver erag age e PD PDM M Dust ust Concent

  • ncentrati

ation

  • ns

Air Velo loci city ty < 10 µm Intak ntake 100 00 ft ft 500 00 ft ft ft ft/m /min in % mg mg/m /m3 mg mg/m /m3 mg mg/m /m3 Pi Pilot lot Sca cale le Cl Clas assified ied Rock ck Dust ust 95 5.9 0.03 43.24 28.84 Pi Pilot lot Sca cale le Cl Clas assified ied Rock ck Dust ust 232 5.9 0.04 20.84 17.33 Reference rence Rock ck Dust ust 221 32.5 NA 131.61 94.80

slide-70
SLIDE 70

Ideal Engineered Rock Dust If we can eliminate only the < 15 micron size fraction instead of < 20 micron, that would provide more surface area Which means…

  • Will have better inerting effectiveness
  • Able to maintain 20-L chamber inerting limits
  • May lift better with the smaller coal dust particles

Technical success (inerts in the 20-L) but practical failure (cost, time). Concerns regarding the preferential dispersion of coal dusts.

slide-71
SLIDE 71

Foamed Rock Dust

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SLIDE 72

Ideal Foamed Applied Rock Dust

  • Applied wet
  • Adheres to ribs/roof
  • Stable in high humidity conditions
  • When dry, is as dispersible as the rock dust supporting the 80% TIC rule
  • Inerts as well as the rock dust supporting the 80% TIC rule
  • Generates very little respirable dust
slide-73
SLIDE 73

Du Dust Di st Dispe spersion sion Cham Chambe ber

  • Based on LLEM coal dust explosion data
  • Generates a reproducible air pulse
  • Nozzle orientation is parallel to the tray

sample

“Design and development of a dust dispersion chamber to quantify the dispersibility of rock dust”, Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries [2016] Vol. 39, pp 7-16, Perera et al.

slide-74
SLIDE 74

Nozzle orientation of the dispersion chamber limited the perpendicular force

  • therwise observed during an explosion
slide-75
SLIDE 75

Modifications of the dispersion chamber allow for vertical loading of the samples

  • does not simulate the

passing of a shockwave

  • induces additional vertical

pressure via the rapid release of the air jet.

slide-76
SLIDE 76

3 foamed rock dust samples were tested

Company A Company B Company C Pre-dispersion Post-dispersion

slide-77
SLIDE 77

1 sample resulted in the same dispersion characteristics as the reference rock dust

slide-78
SLIDE 78

BEM Pilot scale testing of foamed rock dust

slide-79
SLIDE 79

Foam preparation Flow chart

Foam generation Component A Water Compressed air Foam stabilization Component B Water Blending Slurry addition Rock dust Water Mixing

slide-80
SLIDE 80
slide-81
SLIDE 81

What was done

  • A total of eleven tests were conducted.
  • Two sections were used for shakedown tests.
  • Three sections were sprayed with the best performing formulation from lab study and

applied with a “shower” nozzle.

  • One test section was run with the same formulation without the nozzle attachment
  • One test section was run with the same formulation with a “Putzmeister” nozzle
  • Two test sections were run with ± 15% rock dust
  • Two test sections were run with ± 15% of the additional water used to pre-wet the rock

dust

slide-82
SLIDE 82

Measurements to be made

Assessment of foam dispersibility via the “canned air” as well as samples collected in trays for testing in the dispersion chamber. Measurement of foam drying times by periodically recording the weights of foam samples and taking rib samples for moisture analysis.

slide-83
SLIDE 83
slide-84
SLIDE 84

Foamed Rock Dust

Current formulation shows the most promise in laboratory testing Additional engineering required to optimize the application process Need to know how the foam will react to a shockwave

  • Large-scale testing

Future partnership assistance to locate underground application site

slide-85
SLIDE 85

Moving Forward – Next Steps

Larger-scale testing at Polish CMI

  • Layers of coal/rock dust - treated vs

untreated

  • Foamed rock dust

Engineered rock dust

  • Technical success vs practical failure
  • Questions regarding preferential

dispersion of the coal dust

  • No further action planned

Foamed rock dusts

  • Pursue continued optimization of the

foam mix

  • Pursue application optimization
  • Request partnership support for

underground testing – test site Toxicity – back burner Cost/Benefit analyses

slide-86
SLIDE 86

Thank You

Fires and Explosions Branch Marcia L. Harris – ztv5@cdc.gov

  • Dr. Eranda Perera – iju9@cdc.gov

Connor Brown – kqr4@cdc.gov

  • Dr. Gerrit V.R. Goodman – gcg8@cdc.gov

Disclaime mer: r: The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Mention of any company or product does not constitute endorsement by NIOSH.

NIOSH Mining Program

www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining

Disclaim laimer er: : The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Mention of any company or product does not constitute endorsement by NIOSH.