Page 209 - Advanced Mine Ventilation

Respirable Dust Sampling and 12

Measurement

Chapter Outline

12.1 Early Dust Measuring Instruments 190
12.1.1 The Konimeter 190
12.1.2 The Midget Impinger 190
12.1.3 Thermal Precipitator 191
12.2 Gravimetric Personal Dust Samplers 192
12.2.1 Mining Research Establishment Gravimetric Dust Sampler 192
12.2.2 The US Personal Gravimetric Sampler 193
12.2.3 GCA Beta-Ray Sampler 194
12.2.4 The Microorifice Uniform Deposit Impactor 195
12.3 Dust Concentration Measurement by Light-Scattering Instruments 195
12.3.1 The British SIMSLIN Dust Monitor 195
12.3.2 The US GCA RAM-1 (and RAM-1-2G) 196
12.3.3 The German Tyndallometer 196
12.3.4 Performance Evaluation of Light-Scattering Instruments 196
12.4 The Tapered Element Oscillating Microbalance Instrument (A Personal Dust
Monitor) 196
12.4.1 Comparison of PDM with a Personal Dust Sampler and Marple Impactor 197
12.5 Respirable Dust Sampling Strategy 199
12.5.1 The Quartz Standards 200
12.5.2 Measurement of Quartz in Respirable Dust 202
12.5.3 An Independent Study 203
12.5.3.1 Sources of Quartz 204
12.5.3.2 Comparison of X-ray Diffraction and Infrared Techniques 204
12.5.4 Spatial Variation of Quartz 205
12.6 Threshold Limits for Various Dusts Prevailing in Mines 207
12.7 Diesel Particulate Monitor 209
References 209

Over the past 60 years, respirable dust sampling and measurements in coal mines have
undergone a great change. Many instruments were developed to measure the number
of dust particles in air or the surface area of the airborne dust. It was assumed that the
surface area of the dust deposited in human lungs is the best measure of health hazards.
During 1950 to 1970, the British Pneumoconiosis Field Research (PFR) [1] conclu-
sively proved that the mass of dust deposited in the lungs is most correlated with
the growth of coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP). Hence instruments that can mea-
sure the dust concentration gravimetrically were developed. A further refinement was
the sampling of dust on a “size-selective” basis just as the human nose/mouth would

Advanced Mine Ventilation. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-100457-9.00012-2
Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.