Effects of radial air flow quantity and location of an air curtain generator on dust pollution control at fully mechanized working face

To better understand the effects of radial air flow quantity and the location of air curtain generator on dust pollution control, the 2–109₂ fully mechanized working face in Xinzhi coal mine (Huozhou Coal Electricity Group Co., Ltd., Shanxi, China) was numerically simulated in the present study. A full-scale physical model of the working face was established; then, based on airflow-dust particle two-phase flowing characteristics, the k-ε-Θ-k_p mathematical model was constructed. The comparison between simulation results and field measurements validated the model and the parameter settings. Furthermore, the effects of ventilation parameters on airflow migration and dust diffusion were numerically investigated using FLUENT. The results show that the increase of the radial air flow quantity (denoted as φ) and the distance of the air curtain generator from working face (denoted as d_w) is beneficial to the formation of a dust-control air curtain. At a constant d_w, the dust diffusion distance (denoted as D) decreases with the increase of φ. At a constant φ, D decreases with the increase of d_w when a dust-control air curtain is formed; otherwise, the increase of d_w leads to the increase of D. By analyzing the simulation results, the optimal ventilation parameters for 2–109₂ fully mechanized working face and those working faces under similar production conditions are determined as: φ = 240–270 m³/min and d_w = 20–30 m.