Design and demonstration of a continuous dust control parameter monitoring system. Report of investigations/1996

The purpose of the joint U.S. Bureau of Mines and Mine Safety and Health Administration study was to assemble an intrinsically safe, continuous dust control parameter monitoring system and demonstrate the capabilities of the system to augment a coal mine`s dust control plan. Field testing was done in an active longwall coal mining section to test the monitor`s durability and assess the reliability of the sensors and data acquisition system. It was demonstrated in the study that intrinsically safe instruments are available to be assembled into a continuous dust control parameter monitoring system. Therefore, with cooperation and support from the mining community, monitoring systems can be engineered into coal mining machines to assist in controlling respirable dust.