Abstract
Inhaled radon status in the laneways of some Chinese stone-coal mines is a cause of concern. In this study, computational fluid dynamics simulations were employed to investigate three flowrates of the dilution gas (2.5, 5, and 7.5 m3/s) and radon distributions at realistic breathing levels (1.6, 1.75, and 1.9 m). The results showed that there are obvious jet-flow, backflow, and vortex zones near the heading face, and a circulation flow at the rear of the laneway. A high radon concentration area was found to be caused by the mining machinery. As the ventilation rate increased, the radon concentrations dropped significantly. An airflow of 7.5 m3 /s showed the best dilution performance: The maximum radon concentration decreased to 541.62 Bq/m3, which is within the safe range recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection. Annual effective doses for the three air flowrates were 8.61, 5.50, and 4.12 mSv.
Recommended Citation
B. Zhou et al., "Computational Fluid Dynamic Simulation of Inhaled Radon Dilution by Auxiliary Ventilation in a Stone-Coal Mine Laneway and Dosage Assessment of Miners," Processes, vol. 7, no. 8, pp. 1 - 15, article no. 515, MDPI, Aug 2019.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.3390/pr7080515
Department(s)
Mining Engineering
Keywords and Phrases
Coal mining; Computational fluid dynamics; Occupational exposure assessment; Radon concentration; Ventilation
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
2227-9717
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Final Version
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2021 The Authors, All rights reserved.
Creative Commons Licensing
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Publication Date
01 Aug 2019
Comments
This work was supported by the China Scholarship Council Fund [grant number 201706930015]; Applied Basic Research Programs of Shanxi Province [grant number 201801D121265].