Characteristics of Dust in Coal Mines in Central North China and Its Research Significance

[Image: see text] The identification of the dust characteristics in coal mine working faces is essential for preventing coal dust explosion and occupational diseases. In this paper, dust samples from the coal mines in southern Shanxi province and Henan province, central North China, were selected as the research objects. The results show that the dust contains primarily organic matter, as well as considerable amounts of minerals. The chemical composition of dust at the working faces is the most complex. According to the proportion of PM(10), the dust composition can be divided into three types: symmetrical, fine-dominated, and coarse-dominated. The wettability of dust increases with the increase of the oxygen–carbon ratio on its surface, increase of ash content, decrease of fixed carbon content, and decrease of particle size. In addition, the great variety of harmful elements in dust, some with a high content, can harm the human body. An explosion index is proposed to evaluate the likeliness tendency of coal dust explosion based on several key affecting factors. The surfactant (0.05% AN solution) adopted in this paper can significantly increase the wettability of coal dust and inhibit the generation of dust greatly, showing good ability in preventing coal dust explosion and occupational diseases.