Suppression Characteristics and Mechanism of Molasses Solution on Coal Dust: A Low-Cost and Environment-Friendly Suppression Method in Coal Mines

Coal dust pollution poses a serious public health threat. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of creating a coal dust suppressant using molasses, a byproduct of the sugar industry. We studied the effects of a molasses solution of varying concentrations (i.e., ranging from 0% (pure water) to 40%) on the moisture, bonding, and wind erosion properties of coal dust. Overall, the effectiveness of the molasses increased with their concentration, and it manifested itself in the following way: (1) the molasses improved the anti-evaporation ability of wet coal dust. For example, the evaporation mass of the coal dust wetted using a molasses solution decreased by 82.8%; (2) molasses effectively agglutinated coal dust; (3) molasses can effectively decrease the surface tension and increase the viscosity of the wetting solution. The surface tension of the molasses solution reached 41.37 mN/m and the viscosity increased to 6.79 mPa·s; (4) molasses can significantly suppress the wind erosion of deposited coal dust, with its wind erosion mass decreasing 99.1%; finally, (5) the effectiveness of molasses at suppressing coal dust was discussed at a molecular level. This study highlights the feasibility of a low-cost and environment-friendly dust suppressant in coal mines.