Dust Suppression Systems

Dust Control

Dust control is an issue that has become very important to manage on various projects throughout the mining and civil industries due to health and safety concerns, EPA regulations and also to assist with productivity.

Due to the incredibly dry climate in parts of Australia, and some of the most stringent safety and environmental management laws in the world, a good dust control strategy is one of the most important considerations in an Australian project, be it mining, construction or civil. Long-term harmful impacts of dust exposure including exposure to silica dust can cause lung disease and lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), and silicosis. These conditions can greatly decrease the patient’s quality of life and shorten their lifespan. Strict laws are mandated by local councils, the EPA in each state and by Worksafe. perhaps the chief long-term threat to worker safety at a mine site is suspended particulate matter, or dust, generated by the daily operations of mining.

Australia produces approximately 6% of the world’s coal and nearly 80% of our coal comes from open cut coal mines (compared with 40% globally).

Open cut mines produce a number of challenges in relation to dust control and air quality due to the inevitable production of respirable sized dust,

Respirable dust (PM10) refers to dust which is typically less than 10 microns in size. Invisible to the naked eye, respirable dust is the type of dust which can cause everything from vision impairment to major health risks such as black lung disease.

What are dust suppression systems? – these are wet or dry techniques that use either dust suppressants or baghouse filters to bind or collect fine dust particles respectively. The dust suppression systems must be placed strategically for the dust suppression to be effective.