Mining Publication: Maximizing Air Quality Inside Enclosed Cabs with a Unidirectional Filtration and Pressurization System
Original creation date: February 2009
Enclosed cabs have been used on surface mining equipment for many years to protect equipment operators from health and safety hazards. The surface mining and quarrying process is a highly mechanized process that generates large quantities of respirable dust. Due to economic factors, more older mining equipment is being used today than in years past. With this older equipment, it is common to observe deterioration of many components on the enclosed cabs which greatly reduce their protection effectiveness. NIOSH has performed a number of different field studies, as well as a comprehensive laboratory study evaluating various factors and parameters regarding enclosed cabs. NIOSH has recently completed a cooperative research effort with Sy-Klone International and Vulcan Materials Company to evaluate the effectiveness of a newly designed uni-directional filtration and pressurization system that brings all the clean filtered air in at the roof of the cab and extracts all recirculated air near the floor. This design provides the highest air quality to the equipment operator. Testing on this new system showed an almost 10-fold reduction in respirable dust inside the enclosed cab. The uni-directional design is easy to incorporate and should be considered for all new and retrofit systems in surface mining equipment.
Authors: AB Cecala, JA Organiscak, JA Zimmer, MS Hillis, D Moredock
Conference Paper - February 2009
NIOSHTIC2 Number: 20035150
2009 SME Annual Meeting and Exhibit, February 22-25, Denver, Colorado, preprint 09-099. Littleton, CO: Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc., 2009; :1-6
See Also
- Clearing the Air
- Closing the Door to Dust When Adding Drill Steels: Uni-directional Cab Filtration and Pressurization System Tested
- Current NIOSH Dust Control Research for Noncoal Surface Mines
- Doing the Math: The Effectiveness of Enclosed-Cab Air-Cleaning Methods Can Be Spelled Out in Mathematical Equations
- Dust Underfoot: Enclosed Cab Floor Heaters Can Significantly Increase Operator's Respirable Dust Exposure
- Effects of MERV 16 Filters and Routine Work Practices on Enclosed Cabs for Reducing Respirable Dust and DPM Exposures in an Underground Limestone Mine
- Laboratory and Field Evaluation of Dust Collector Bags for Reducing Dust Exposure of Roof Bolter Operators
- Technology News 487 - Sweeping Compound Application Reduces Dust From Soiled Floors Within Enclosed Operator Cabs
- Technology News 533 - Minimizing Respirable Dust Exposure in Enclosed Cabs by Maintaining Cab Integrity - TN-No. 533
- Workplace Solutions: Reducing Hazardous Dust in Enclosed Operator Cabs During Construction
- Page last reviewed: 9/21/2012
- Page last updated: 9/21/2012
- Content source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Mining Program