Field measurement and numerical simulation of dust migration in a high-rise building of the mine hoisting system

Dust pollutants generated from the coal transfer process in a high-rise building of the mine hoisting system not only undermine the operating environment but also reduce the surrounding air quality. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the spatiotemporal distribution of coal dust in the high-rise buildings using field measurement and numerical simulation. Based on the discrete phase model (DPM), the dust migration process under the hybrid ventilation system was investigated in detail. Then, the feasibility of the established model to predict the spatiotemporal distribution of dust pollutants was proven through the measurements of both the airflow and the dust concentration. The present study showed that dust distribution is not uniform in time and space, which also differs for different floors. The dust concentration of the 3(rd) floor is relatively larger when compared with those of other floors. The dust concentration increases for the upper floors when the upward air velocity increases, while those of the lower floors are not always low due to the backflows, particularly for the 2(nd) floor. PM2.5 takes up more than 20% of all discharged particles.

Automated summary

This study investigates the spatiotemporal distribution of coal dust in high-rise buildings using field measurements and numerical simulations. Results show that dust distribution varies in time and space, and the dust concentration differs among different floors.