Research on dust settlement under mixed air flow control in fully mechanized excavation face

Dust accumulation is severe during coal mine excavation. Currently, research on the dust settlement law and optimization under mixed air flow control in fully mechanized excavation faces is not in-depth enough. Based on a hybrid air flow control system and relying on the fully mechanized excavation face of Shaanxi Coal Group Shenmu Ningtiaota Mining Co., Ltd., the influence of mixed air flow control parameters such as the distance from the pressure air outlet to the working face, the right angle of the pressure air outlet, the pressure air outlet diameter, the distance from the extraction air outlet to the working face, and the pressure extraction ratio on the dust settlement law is analyzed. As the distance between the pressure air outlet and the working face increases, the proportion of large particle dust in the cross-section of the personnel breathing zone on the return air sides and the driver's location first increases, then decreases, and then increases again. The proportion of small particle dust increases. As the right deviation angle of the air inlet increases, the proportion of large particle dust in the personnel breathing zone section on the return air sides and the driver's location changes significantly. As the diameter of the air inlet increases, the proportion of small particle dust in the driver's location section first increases, then decreases, and then increases again. The proportion of large particle dust in the personnel breathing zone section on the return air side first increases and then decreases. As the distance between the extraction air outlet and the working face increases, the proportion of large particle dust at the driver's location section first increases and then decreases. The proportion of small particle dust first increases and then decreases and then increases again. The particle size distribution of dust at the personnel breathing zone section on the return air side does not change much. As the pressure-pumping ratio increases, the proportion of small particle dust in the cross-section of the personnel breathing zone on return air sides and the driver's location decreases. Taking the above air flow control parameters as independent variables, the average concentration of total dust in the personnel breathing zone on the return air side and the average concentration of exhaled dust at the driver's location are the optimization objectives. A dust settlement optimization regression model is established, and the particle swarm optimization algorithm is used to solve the model. The optimal air flow control scheme is obtained. The distance between the pressure air outlet and the working face is 8.9 meters, the right angle of the compressed air outlet is 14.8°, the diameter of the compressed air outlet is 0.9 meters, the distance between the extraction air outlet and the working face is 4.3 meters, and the pressure-pumping ratio is 1.1. The experimental platform for dust settlement under wind flow control is built. The experimental results show that the error between the test values and the simulated values of the dust settlement optimization regression model is within 13%, which verifies the accuracy of the model. The optimized dust with particle sizes of 71-100 μm is significantly affected by the wind flow regulation parameters and settles in front of the roadheader. After optimization, the average dust concentration of total dust in the personnel breathing zone on the return air side and the average dust concentration at the driver's location decrease by 47.4% and 42.4%, respectively, indicating a significant dust reduction effect.