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Published: 28 January 2025
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International Journal of Coal Science & Technology Volume 12, article number 6, (2025)
1.
Department of Safety Science and Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao, China
2.
Research Center for Accident Prevention Technology in Key Industries of Shandong Province, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao, China
Aiming at reducing the dust pollution during the tunneling process and improving the application efficiency of air curtain dust prevention technology, according to the changes of radial jet velocity (vr), axial extraction velocity (ve) and extraction distance (L) in the formation process of air curtain, the numerical simulation method was used to analyze the rules of airflow structure evolution and the diffusion characteristics of dust particles in fully mechanized excavation tunnel. The results indicate that as vr and ve increase, the migration path of the wall jet of the air curtain changes into an axial direction; as L decreases, the migration distance increases accordingly. These phenomena make the airflow distribution in the working face tends to be uniform. The dust diffusion distance reduces as well, wherein, the range of the discrete area of dust particles decreases sharply, until all dust particles are concentrated in the accumulation area. On this basis, the vr, ve and L were optimized and applied in the 63up08 fully mechanized working face. By the application of the optimal parameters, the average dust removal efficiency at the driver’s position increased by 71%. The dust concentration was reduced and the working environment had been improved effectively.
In China, the rapid growth of the consumption of mineral resources causes a significantly increase of the output of coal. Large-scale fully mechanized mining equipment is widely used in coal mines. This has led to a rapid increase in the mining speed, and as a result, the high concentration dust pollution has become increasingly severe (Jiang and Luo 2021). In the underground space, the fully mechanized excavation tunnel provides basic conditions for coal mining and transportation. It is an extremely important production site. The dust generated by coal cutting in the working face accounts for more than 85% of the dust generated by all procedures in the fully mechanized excavation tunnel. In the underground space, the high concentration dust pollution is an important factor that leads to miners’ pneumoconiosis (Shekarian et al. 2021; Trechera et al. 2022; Fan and Liu 2021; Ren et al. 2020; Agioutanti et al. 2020). As shown in Fig. 1, from 2011 to 2020, the accumulative number of occupational pneumoconiosis cases has reached 227,139 in China, accounting for 87% of the total cases of occupational disease. The number of mining-related pneumoconiosis cases accounting for about 90% of the total number of occupational pneumoconiosis cases (Nie et al. 2022; Gu et al., 2021).
Cases of new occupational disease in China
As the fully mechanized excavation tunnel is a semi-closed space with a single passage, inefficient local ventilation can easily make dust mix with fresh airflow, causing serious dust pollution (Geng et al. 2019; Gao et al. 2021; Animah et al. 2024). Under this circumstance, clarifying the dust prevention mechanism of local ventilation system and selecting optimal ventilation parameters are essential to fundamentally solve the dust pollution problem (Aznar-Sánchez et al. 2019; Lodhia and Hess 2014). Researchers believe that air curtains can be developed to block dust. Because the transparent air curtain do not cause visual obstruction and can also isolate personnel working regions from dust producing region (Wang et al. 2021a; Geng et al. 2018; Jiang et al. 2015). German researchers developed an air curtain device to generate a single linear air curtain (Nie et al. 2016; Guyonnaud et al. 2000). Wang et al. (2019a); Li et al. (2019b) carried out model experiment and numerical simulation on the distributions of airflow and dust concentration in tunnels with single radial air curtains. They achieved the optimal air volume, structure and installation position of air curtain device. This study provides a theoretical basis for the optimization design of the air curtain device and its application. Zhang et al. (2011) established a new type of air curtain dust removal system by the utilization of air curtain fan. Using numerical simulation to analyze the airflow streamlines and dust particle traces under different airflow velocities, dust removal pipe diameters and outlet pressures. The impact rule of the above variables on the dust removal system was obtained. The conclusions has guiding significance for the structural optimization of the air curtain dust removal system. Kurnia et al. (2015) developed a hybrid vibration system that combined physical vibration with air curtain to reduce dust dispersion in the working face. A dynamic model was established using the Euler-Lagrange method to track the diffusion of dust particles, and the optimal mixed vibration scheme was obtained. Ge et al. (2003) invented an air curtain fan to form a jet convergence field, enveloping the pollution source. This study analyzed the structure and operating mechanism of the fan, established a mathematical model to describe its flow field, and carried out typical applications. The achievement provides practical reference for in-depth research and renovation of air curtain devices. Cheng et al. (2016) designed a new air curtain device that could form multi-directional radial jets. The air curtain could cover the entire section of the tunnel and has been widely promoted and applied in fully mechanized excavation tunnels in coal mines. Yin et al. (2019); Hua et al. (2020); Wang et al. (2021b) based on the new air curtain device, further analyzed the airflow migration and dust diffusion under different pressure air volumes and air curtain positions through numerical simulation and obtained optimal parameters. These studies provide theoretical guidance for the efficient application of the multi-directional air curtain.
The above-mentioned achievements have conducted extensive and in-depth research on the development and optimization of air curtain devices, changes in air curtain forms, and the effects of various airflow parameters and air curtain positions on dust concentration distribution. They have played a very important role in promoting the development and application of air curtain dust prevention technology. However, at present, the air curtain dust prevention has not achieved ideal effect. The main reason is that the air curtain migration is a dynamic process, the difference in axial and radial velocities and migration distances of the air curtain will directly affect the airflow structure along the way, resulting in completely different distribution patterns of dust particles. But the existing research achievements rarely consider the impact of air curtain migration on the evolution of airflow structure in the tunnel, which leads to the unclear dust prevention mechanism of air curtain and insufficient theoretical basis for on-site application.
Numerical simulation, experiment, field measurement are the commonly used theoretical research methods (Parra et al. 2006). Among them, numerical simulation comprehensively restores the production environment through proportional physical models, and uses various visual images to display the details of the flow field, greatly improving the efficiency of flow field analysis (Hu et al. 2019; Ding et al. 2017). Experiment is difficult to restore the actual production environment due to the constraints of equipment and site scale, and the test process is very complicated (Li et al. 2016, 2019a). Field measurement is restricted by the operation process, but the measured results are the most able to reflect the actual situation and have the most reference value (Wang et al. 2018; Lu et al. 2022).
Based on the above, a typical fully mechanized excavation tunnel, the 63up08 excavation tunnel in Dongtan Coal Mine of Shandong Energy Group Co., Ltd. was taken as the study object, the combined method of numerical simulation and field measurement was utilized to conduct the analysis on the dust prevention mechanism of air curtain under various radial jet velocities, axial extraction velocities and extraction distances in fully mechanized excavation tunnel. The conclusions can provide theoretical guidance for the exact dust pollutant treatment in the underground excavation tunnel.
In the fully mechanized excavation tunnel, the dust volume fraction contained in the airflow is less than 20%, the interaction between dust particles and the impact of dust particles on the airflow can be ignored (Shi et al. 2017; Zhou et al. 2020; Kumar et al. 2022). In this study, the Reynolds time-averaged formula based on the Euler coordinate system is used to describe the turbulent migration of airflow. The stochastic orbital tracking method based on the Lagrangian coordinate system is used to describe the dust diffusion process (Magesh et al. 2016).
It is assumed that the airflow is an incompressible fluid, the governing formulas include the continuity formula and the momentum formula (Zhang et al. 2021; Ding 2020).
Continuity formula:
Momentum formula:
The air curtain belongs to a wall jet and the swirling flow is strong. The Realizable κ-ε model is more suitable for the simulation of a mixed flow on a plane. Therefore, the Realizable κ-ε model was selected in this study (Ding 2020).
κ formula:
ε formula:
where ρ is air density, kg/m3; u is time-averaged velocity of x direction, m/s; xi, xj are coordinate positions, the subscripts i, j represent x, y, z directions with values of 1, 2, 3; p is valid turbulence pressure, Pa; µ is fluid viscosity coeffificient, Pa·s; µt is turbulent viscosity coeffificient, Pa·s; κ is turbulence kinetic energy, J; t is time, s; σκ is the Turbulence Prandtl number for κ formula, takes constant terms with 1.0; Gκ is the generated turbulence kinetic energy caused by velocity gradients; ε is dissipation rate of turbulence kinetic energy; σε is the Turbulence Prandtl number for ε formula, takes constant terms with 1.2; C1 takes constant terms with 1.4; C2 takes constant terms with 1.9; v is average velocity, m/s.
The DPM model was used to integrat the force balance formula and calculate the dust migration trajectory in a Lagrange coordinate system (Wang et al. 2019b). The force balance formula is as follows:
Where up is particle velocity, m/s; Fd is drag force per unit particle mass, N; ρp is density of dust particle, kg/m3; F is other forces acting on the dust particles, N; F has a very small order of magnitude and can be ignored in the numerical simulation.
In addition to the acting force, the dust migration trajectories are also subject to turbulence in the airflow. To describe the turbulent diffusion of dust, by using the random trajectory tracking method and utilizing the instantaneous velocity of the airflow, the equilibrium formula for the interaction of a single dust particle is integrated. When the number of integrated dust particles is sufficient, the calculation results can reflect the random effect of turbulence on dust diffusion.
To truly reflect the working environment, a proportional physical model of the 63up08 fully mechanized excavation tunnel was established by Solidworks 2021. As shown in Fig. 2, the tunnel is a cuboid of Length×Wideth×Height = 80 m×5.54 m×3.8 m. There is a roadheader, a pressing air duct, an extraction air duct, a wall-attached air duct, a dedusting fan, a stage loader, and a belt loader in the tunnel. The air ducts have a same diameter of 0.8 m; the central axes of the air ducts are all 2.8 m above the floor. The pressing air outlet and the radial jet ports are 10 m and 20 m from the working face, respectively. The wall-attached air duct contains ten groups of radial jet ports (T1 ~ T10). The ports of A and C styles are arranged toward the roof, B and E styles are arranged toward the floor, D style is arranged horizontally toward the inside space. To avoid the interference of model changes on the simulation results, for models with different extraction distances, only the position of the inlet of the extraction air duct was changed. There were no changes made in sizes or positions of any equipment.
Proportional physical model of the 63up08 fully mechanized excavation tunnel
Since it is difficult to replicate the details, the simulation was simplified and assumed as follows: (1) the air was idealized as an incompressible continuous fluid, the small internal facilities were not reflected in the calculation domain; (2) the velocity at the inlet and outlet was uniform, the airflow was in a fully turbulent state; (3) the change of the temperature was not considered; (4) the interaction between particles was ignored.
The physical models were meshed by ICEM. According to the complexity of the model, the unstructured tetrahedral mesh was chosen for the fluid domain division. The mesh size could directly affect the mesh quality and the accuracy of numerical simulation. According to Yin et al. (2020) and Zhang et al. (2020), a comparative analysis was conducted on the airflow velocity at the same measurement point under different mesh sizes to verify the independence of the mesh. The mesh size suitable for numerical simulation was selected as well. This study adopted the same method to conduct mesh independence test. Taking the model with the extraction distance of 2 m as an example, with 0.3 m, 0.2 m and 0.1 m as the maximum mesh size, three different meshes were obtained: large meshes (total number: 1,637,036), medium meshes (total number: 3,184,042), small meshes (total number: 24,711,267).
The airflow velocities at the personnel breathing height in the cutting area, driver operation area, backrear of roadheader, duct overlapping area, and air curtain area, which were 3 m, 7 m, 10 m, 15 m, 20 m from the working face, were taken as the verification parameters.
Result of mesh independence test
The smaller the mesh size, the higher the accuracy of the simulation results obtained. Taking the airflow velocities under small mesh condition as the reference values, the relative errors of the results obtained from the large and the medium mesh were calculated. The result of mesh independence test is shown in Fig. 3. It can be seen that the airflow velocities show a same fluctuation rule, which indicates that all these three meshes are independent. However, there is a significant deviation in the result under large mesh condition, the average relative error reaches 45.3%, while the deviation under medium mesh condition is small, the average relative error is 9.6%. This illustrates that too much reduction in mesh size could not significantly improve the numerical simulation results. At the same time, too small mesh size will greatly increase the simulation workload, which not only takes longer time but also requires higher computer performance. Therefore, this study ultimately chose a medium mesh with a minimum size of 0.2 m for simulations.
The boundary conditions were set by ANSYS Fluent. As shown in Fig. 4, the surfaces of the outlet of the pressing air duct, the inlet of the extraction air duct and the radial jet ports of the wall-attached air duct were set as “velocity_inlet”; the surface of the end section of the tunnel was set as “outflow”; all other surfaces were set as “wall”. The working face was set as a dust generating surface.
Mesh and boundary conditions
According to the measured values of the 63up08 fully mechanized working face, without the application of air curtain dust prevention technology, the airflow velocity at the outlet of the pressing air duct was about 10.6 m/s, and that at the inlet of the extraction air duct was about 9.9 m/s. To understand the influence of axial extraction velocity (ve) on airflow structure, the values of ve were set to 5 m/s, 10 m/s, and 15 m/s. According to the functional relationship between the air volume Q, the airflow velocity v, and the air duct section area A, that is Q = vA, the total amount of pressing air was approximately 320 m3/min. The wall-attached air duct could adjust 50–90% pressing air to be ejected from the radial jet ports, the corresponding radial air volumes were 160 m3/min, 192 m3/min, 224 m3/min, 256 m3/min and 288 m3/min. By the conversion between Q and v, the radial jet velocity (vr) wa 7 m/s, 8 m/s, 9 m/s, 10 m/s and 12 m/s, respectively. To understand the impact of vr on airflow structure, the values of vr were selected as 8 m/s, 10 m/s and 12 m/s. According to the coal mine safety regulations, based on the cross-sectional area of the tunnel S, the extraction distance L should be less than 1.5·S1/2. The S of the 63up08 fully mechanized excavation tunnel is 21 m2, resulting in L < 6.8 m. To understand the influence of L on the airflow structure, the values of L were set to 2 m, 3 m, 4 m and 5 m.
Dust samples were collected at 63up08 fully mechanized working face, and experimental tests were carried out on particle size distribution. On this basis, the basic parameters of particle phase in numerical simulation were set. The minimum diameter of dust particles was 0.82 μm, the median diameter was 4.83 μm, the maximum diameter was 26.5 μm. The mass flow rate was 0.0028 kg/s. In the DPM model, the particle time step was set to 0.01s, and the time step was set to 5000 to meet the maximum real-time process particle tracking. The maximum particle tracking step was set to 3200.
In the 63up08 fully mechanized excavation tunnel, the original long pressure and short extraction local ventilation system has been applied. The measured parameters were: vr=0 m/s, ve=10 m/s, L = 3 m. To verify the effectiveness of the model, the airflow velocity and dust concentration were measured by 9545-VELOCICALC (TSI Corporation, USA) and CCZG-2 A portable individual dust sampler (Shandong Shenhua Machinery Manufacturing Co. LTD, China). The measuring points were set at the miners’ breathing height on the sidewalk. The measuring section was 5 m ~ 30 m from the working face, every 5 m backward.
As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the measured and simulation results were compared and analyzed.
Comparison of airflow velocity
Comparison of dust concentration
It can be seen that the variation trends of simulation values are substantially coincided with measured values. The average relative errors of airflow velocity and dust concentration are 26% and 14%, respectively. In engineering applications, the average relative error of about ± 20% between numerical simulation and experimental/test results is generally considered acceptable. Due to the complex environment in site, any artificial operation or change of production conditions can inevitably cause errors, therefore, the above relative errors are within the acceptable range.
Figures 7, 8 and 9 shows the airflow migrations under various vr, ve, and L conditions.
Airflow migration under various vr conditions
As shown in Fig. 7a, part of the pressing airflow is ejected radially from the wall-attached air duct at vr=8 m/s, the radial jet impacts the wall on the extraction side of the tunnel and flows around the surface to form a wall jet. The residual pressing airflow is axially ejected from the outlet of the pressing air duct and migrates to the working face at the velocity of 2.2 m/s. After the axial jet collides with the working face, it converges towards the inlet of the extraction air duct under the negative pressure, forming a backflow that deviates from the working face. Due to the entrainment effect of the axial jet, part of the backflow is not sucked into the extraction air duct but is entrained into the axial jet, thus forming a circulating flow. It can affect the whole upper space of the roadheader. In this process, the wall jet is moving towards the working face, it converges into the axial jet as soon as it enters the working face. This results in inconsistent directions, significant differences in volumes and velocities of airflows in the working face. As shown in Figs. 7b and c with the increase of vr, the volume and velocity of axial jet decrease, the entrainment effect weakens as well. Therefore, when vr=10 m/s, the incidence of the circulating flow is reduced to less than 7 m from the working face. The deviation degree of the wall jet towards the axial jet is reduced. When vr is further increased to 12 m/s, the axial jet velocity has been reduced to 0.5 m/s. At this time, the circulating flow cannot be formed in the working face, and the wall jet is directly moved to the inlet of the extraction air duct in the axial direction. Under this condition, the flow field in the working face shows an axial migration towards the working face. The differences in airflow volume and velocity between the pressing side and the extraction side are not large. The flow field distribution is uniform.
As shown in Fig. 8, when ve=5 m/s, the extraction intensity in the working face is insufficient to allow the wall jet to migrate axially. The collision and disturbance between the radial airflow lead to the formation of turbulent flows in the overlapping region of air ducts. Under this condition, there is no additional inflow on the extraction side of the tunnel. Therefore, when the axial jet turns to the inlet of the extraction air duct, a “triangular windless zone” is formed. The triangular windless zone is a right-angled triangle with the boundary of the axial jet as the oblique edge, and the radial line of the outlet of the pressing air duct and the axial line of the boundary of the extraction air duct as the right-angled edges, respectively. In the triangular windless zone, the airflow velocity is less than 0.20 m/s, the distribution of airflow streamlines is extremely sparse. The volume and velocity of airflow on the pressing side differs greatly from that on the extraction side. When ve increases to 10 m/s, part of the wall jet starts an axial migration, supplementing the airflow on the extraction side. The range of turbulent flows is reduced. When ve further increases to 15 m/s, almost all the wall jet migrates axially, the airflow in the working face realizes a complete uniform distribution.
Airflow migration under various ve conditions
As shown in Fig. 9, as L increases, the migration distance of the wall jet decreases. At the same time, the distance from the boundary of the axial jet to the working face increases. Both the above lead to the formation of a low-velocity turbulent flow field. The airflow velocity in this field is lower than 0.20 m/s. When L = 2 m, the low-velocity turbulent flow field is at the turning corner in a triangular shape, the area is 3.32m2. When L = 3 m, the area of the low-velocity turbulent flow field rapidly increases to 13.85m2. As L increases to 4 m, the low-velocity turbulent flow field turns into a trapezoid shape, and the area further increases to 19.39m2. When L further increases to 5 m, the area of the low-velocity turbulent flow field reaches to the maximum of 30.47m2.
Airflow migration under various L conditions
Figure 10 shows the dust particle dispersion process. It can be seen that an accumulation area of particles is formed within a certain range from the working face. In this area, a little part of large particles could settle out, more small particles are concentrated and suspended in the tunnel. Among these particles, some of them continue dispersing to the space outside the accumulation area and form a discrete area. In this area, the density of dust particles is significantly reduced, the particles are all suspended in the tunnel and can disperse to further place with the airflow.
Dust particle dispersion process
Figures 11, 12 and 13 shows the dust particle distributions under various vr, ve, L conditions.
Dust particle distributions under various vr conditions
As shown in Fig. 11, when vr=8 m/s, a circulating airflow field exists in the working face, a large number of dust particles in the sewage air return to the working face with the flow field, rather than continue to diffuse to other areas. The length of the accumulation area reaches 9.8 m, that of the discrete area reaches 10.4 m. With the increase of vr, the circulating airflow field decreases, the dust diffusion distance decreases as well. When vr=10 m/s, the length of the accumulation area decreases to 7.5 m, and that of the discrete area sharply decreases to 4.9 m. When vr=12 m/s, the length of the accumulation area decreases to 6.7 m and no discrete area is formed.
When ve=5 m/s, there is a triangular windless zone in the working face. It makes the airflow volume and velocity on the pressing side are significantly higher than that on the extraction side. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 12, the dust particles are concentrated on the extraction side and constantly diffuse to the rear space of the roadheader. The length of the accumulation area is 9.6 m, and that of the discrete area is 9.8 m. With the increase of ve, the distribution of airflow volume and velocity becomes uniform, and the dust prevention ability increases accordingly. When ve=10 m/s, no discrete area is formed, and the length of the accumulation area does not change significantly. When ve further increases to 15 m/s, the length of the accumulation area rapidly decreases to 6.2 m.
Dust particle distributions under various ve conditions
As L increases, the area of the low-velocity turbulent flow field increases. It creates favorable conditions for dust diffusion. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 13, the length of the discrete area increases, while that of the accumulation area decreases. When L = 2 m, the length of the accumulation area is 6.7 m.There is no discrete area formed. When L = 4 m, the length of the accumulation area has decreased to 2.4 m, that of the discrete area increases to 8.9 m. When L further increases to 5.0 m, there is a significant large-scale dispersion of dust particles. No accumulation area is formed, the length of the discrete area has reached as high as 16.9 m.
Dust particle distributions under various L conditions
It can be seen that with the increase of vr and ve, with the decrease of L, the dust pollution range continues decreasing, indicating that the dust prevention ability of the airflow field is strengthened. During the diffusion of dust particles, the range of the discrete area decreases sharply, until the dust particles are all concentrated in the accumulation area.
A wall-attached air duct was installed in the 63up08 fully mechanized tunnel. Based on the rules obtained from numerical simulation, the vr was optimized to 12 m/s; the ve was optimized to the maximum of 13 m/s; and the L was optimized to 2 m. According to the measuring sections set for model validation, as shown in Fig. 14, three measuring points were arranged in each measuring section. The measured airflow velocity and dust concentration at each section before and after applying the optimized parameters are shown in Figs. 15, 16 and 17. The actual dust dispersion in site is shown in Fig. 18.
Measuring points
Airflow velocities before and after applying the optimized parameters
Dust concentration before applying the optimized parameters
Dust concentration after applying the optimized parameters
Dust dispersions before and after applying the optimized parameters a Before the application b After the application
It can be seen from Figs. 15, 16, 17 and 18 that:
Before applying the optimized parameters, the airflow velocities in sections 5 m and 10 m from the working face differ greatly, indicating that the airflow distribution is uneven. The airflow velocity at point A is as high as 4.7 m/s and 5.4 m/s, respectively. They are far beyond the effective dust prevention velocity range. Under this condition, the dust concentration at point C is significantly higher than that at point A and B. The average dust concentration in the front section of the driver is as high as 326 mg/m3. Even in the section 20 m from the working face, the average dust concentration can still be 108 mg/m3.
After applying the optimized parameters, airflow velocities in sections 5 m and 10 m from the working face are similar, indicating that the airflow velocity distribution is uniform. The dust concentration at each section decreases significantly. The average dust concentration in the front section of the driver reduces to 94 mg/m3, the average dust removal efficiency increases by 71%. In the section. 15 m from the working face, the dust concentration has reduced to less than 50 mg/m3. It means that high concentration dust pollution has been effectively prevented, and the working environment for operators is significantly improved.
In this study, the proportional physical model of 63up08 excavation tunnel was established and validated. The airflow structure evolutions and dust particle diffusions under various vr, ve and L conditions were simulated and analyzed. The main conclusions are as follows:
As vr, ve increase and L decreases, the migration path of the wall jet changes to the axial direction. The airflow distribution in the working face tends to be uniform.
An accumulation area and a discrete area are formed during dust dispersion. With the increase of vr, ve, and with the decrease of L, the range of the discrete area decreases, until dust particles are all concentrated in the accumulation area.
According to the simulation result, the ventilation parameters were optimized to vr=12 m/s, ve=13 m/s, L = 2 m. After the application of these parameters, the average dust removal efficiency at the driver’s position increases by 71%. The working environment for operators can be effectively improved.
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01 October 2023
14 January 2024
06 January 2025
November -0001
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40789-025-00752-x
Springer
