Abstract:
Understanding the dust distribution characteristics in a fully mechanized working face with a large mining height is a prerequisite for dust control. To investigate the dust migration patterns and their sources under different wind speeds, this study takes the fully mechanized working face of the Shendong Daliuta Coal Mine, owned by CHN Energy Group, as the research object. A three-dimensional geometric model is established using Solidworks, and numerical simulations are carried out using the CFD method. Dust migration models are developed for three scenarios: coal-cutting dust alone, support-moving dust alone, and the combined effect of both dust sources. A systematic comparative analysis is conducted to examine the dust distribution characteristics under single and dual dust sources. Furthermore, source tracing is performed for dust at the breathing zone height on both the coal wall side and the pedestrian side under different wind speeds. The results show that under the single-source condition, the dust generated by the shearer drum exhibits a "high-low-high" concentration distribution at the breathing zone height on the downwind coal wall side of the shearer. At wind speeds of 0.8 m/s and 1.0 m/s, dust from support-moving operations is mainly concentrated within a range of 20 m to 30 m on both the downwind coal wall side and the pedestrian side. When the wind speed increases to 1.2 m/s, the dust accumulation zone shifts to the downwind pedestrian side. Under the combined effect of both dust sources, at a wind speed of 0.8 m/s, the dust on the coal wall side of the breathing zone originates from both coal-cutting and support-moving operations. When the wind speed exceeds 0.8 m/s, the dust on the coal wall side is primarily influenced by coal-cutting dust, while the dust on the pedestrian side mainly comes from support-moving operations. These findings provide a theoretical basis for revealing dust migration in fully mechanized working faces with large mining heights and offer data references for the implementation of targeted dust control measures.