Enhancement of occupational safety in coal mines with respect to dust factor using hydrogel

As productivity of coal mines grows, dust conditions at work places worsen and occupational safety by the dust criterion aggravates. Rostekhnadzor agencies annually reveal more than 4500 thousand violations mostly connected with organization and implementation of dust and explosion protection measures in coal mines. In particular, neither frequency no rates of settling coal dust with powdered slate are observed due to a high labor content of the procedure, as well as owing to the lack of labor, transport and energy resources in mines. Substandard dust and explosive protection and improper compliance control is fraught with the risks of explosion of dust-and-air or dust-and-methane-and-air mixtures, which is accompanied with trauma deaths, and this fact is many times confirmed by the accident statistics in coal mines. In order to enhance occupational safety with respect to the dust criterion in mine roadways with the daily rate of dust deposition from 1.2 to 13 g/m3, it is proposed to replace the procedure of coal dust settling with powdered slate by treatment of roadways with 4% hydrogel. This can reduce the frequency of dust and explosion protection activities, increase the reliability and duration of the protection effect, and low the physical and dust load on mine personnel. This article describes the lab-sale and mine research results on determination of chemical, adhesion, water retention and dust catching properties of hydrogel. These results prove safety, advisability and applicability of hydrogel as an alternative to coal dust settling with powdered slate in dust and explosion protection in some mine openings.

Kornev A. V., Spitsyn A. A., Korshunov G. I. Enhancement of occupational safety in coal mines with respect to dust factor using hydrogel. MIAB. Mining Inf. Anal. Bull. 2025;(4):5-22. [In Russ]. DOI: 10.25018/0236_1493_2025_4_0_5.

A.V. Kornev¹, Cand. Sci. (Eng.), Assistant Professor, e-mail: Kornev_AV@pers.spmi.ru, ORCID ID: 0000-0001-6371-9969,
A.A. Spitsyn¹, Graduate Student, e-mail: spitsyn1998@inbox.ru, ORCID ID: 0000-0003-1148-6109,
G.I. Korshunov¹, Dr. Sci. (Eng.), Professor, Professor, e-mail: Korshunov_GI@pers.spmi.ru, ORCID ID: 0000-0003-2074-9695,
¹ Empress Catherine II Saint-Petersburg Mining University, Saint-Petersburg, 199106, Russia.

A.V. Kornev, e-mail: Kornev_AV@pers.spmi.ru.

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