Research Projects

Dr. Charles Kocsis, Dr. Pratt Rogers

Mining Safety

 The main objective of this project is to design, fabricate, and test a new real-time personal coal and silica dust (RTPCSD) monitoring instrument based on photoacoustic spectroscopy. The hardware components and associated software will enable the unit to continuously measure concentrations of coal dust and silica dust in underground coal mines and metal/nonmetal mines, as well as surface operations. As opposed to the mass-based and filter-based units, the RTPCSD device will be constructed on optical design principles, which will enable the instrument to sequentially measure coal dust and silica dust concentrations from the same air sample. In addition, the RTPCSD unit will have the ability to operate unattended and without any maintenance for a prolonged period of time. Through continuous dust exposure readings, the RTPCSD instrument will help the mine operators immediately identify high transient dust concentrations, locate their sources, and determine the efficiency of the dust control methods and systems. Due to its ability to operate unattended, this instrument could be installed independently or in a network configuration throughout the mine, and could be easily connected to the mine’s existing communication infrastructure.

Publications:

• Development of a Real-Time Respirable Coal Dust and Silica Dust Monitoring Instrument Based on Photoacoustic Spectroscopy
• Real-time Photoacoustic Measurements of the Mass Concentration of Respirable Crystal Silica Dust: Theory