High performance of coal dust suppression with waste activated sludge using microbially induced calcite precipitation technology

Coal dust prevention is essential for coal mine engineering safety but remains a challenge. Herein, waste activated sludge (WAS) was developed for coal dust suppression using microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP) technology and exploring synergistic interactions of the urea-producing bacteria in WAS. The mineralization rate reached 93 ± 4.6% on the 1st day, and the total mass loss of coal dust mineralized by urease-producing bacteria was only 0.7 ± 0.1% in the wind resistance test on the 6th d. The relative abundance of Sporosarcina in the urease-producing bacteria community enriched from WAS was 49.8 ± 3.8% under the optimal condition at the genus level. Sporosarcina had a mutually beneficial relationship with Aerococcus and Ruminococcaceae while negatively correlated with Paenibacillus. The urease-producing bacteria community enriched from WAS had almost no pathogenicity under the optimal condition. Those results will help the engineering application of MICP technology in coal dust suppression.