Experimental and Numerical Investigation of the Effect of Integration of a Flooded-Bed Scrubber into a Longwall Shearer on Airflow along a Coal Mine Longwall Face

Dust control is one of the most difficult challenges for underground coal mine operators, especially longwall operators. The widely used dust technologies at a section are ventilation air and water sprays, whereas continuous miner has added advantage having scrubber built into miner. To test potential benefits integrating flooded-bed shearer, authors designed system full-scale mock-up shearer. was installed in gallery Pittsburgh Research Laboratory (PRL) testing. Air quantity surveys were performed different cross-sections fixed face-air quantity, but airflow rates to quantify distribution gallery. Subsequently, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model PRL developed validated. In this study, effect on pattern investigated using validated CFD model. This can be further predict capture efficiency develop new techniques reduce concentration sections.