Effectiveness of carboxymethyl cellulose solutions for dust suppression in the mining industry

This research focused on the issue of reducing the coal dust emission from the coal mining industry. Out of various binders for dust suppression, the authors used sodium carboxymethylcellulose (SCMC) with the spraying technology. The PM10 coal dust was recognized as the most harmful fraction. A laboratory setup based on a sealed dust suppression bunker with 10 g dust samples was tested, placed on a square with the dimensions of 250 × 250 mm. The air with the coal dust was blown and spread for one minute, until the concentration was equalized over the volume of the bunker; then, the concentration was measured for one hour. The untreated and treated samples of water and aqueous solutions with the SCMC content of 0.05%, 0.1%, 0.2%, and 0.4% were tested and the dust suppression efficiency was calculated. The best obtained efficiency of the 0.1% solution of SCMC was compared with other less or more concentrated solutions or distilled/technical water.