Study on the influence of airflow parameters on spray dust suppression in a fully mechanized mining face

Spray dust suppression technology is a key method for controlling and reducing dust concentration in fully mechanized working faces and is widely used in mining industry. To investigate the effects of airflow and spray parameters on dust suppression performance, a dust-mist coupling model was developed using ANSYS Fluent numerical simulation software. The model simulates air flow, droplet behavior, and dust particle interactions to examine the influence of wind speed, spray angle, and number of spray nozzles on dust suppression efficiency. The results show that wind speed significantly affects dust suppression performance, with the optimal efficiency of 91.7% achieved at a wind speed of 2 m/s. Further increases in wind speed lead to a reduction in efficiency. The best dust suppression effects are observed when the spray direction is oriented at 45° and 60° relative to the airflow, yielding efficiencies of 96.4% and 96.7%, respectively. In addition, when the number of spray nozzles on both the upwind and downwind sides of the shearer drum exceeds two, further increases in nozzle count result in negligible improvements in dust suppression efficiency.