Abstract

Respirable dust in confined mine environments represents a significant environmental and occupational health challenge, requiring advanced monitoring and risk assessment methodologies. Current area-level monitoring overlooks the heterogeneity of personal exposure fields and the critical influence of human-ventilation interactions on local contaminant dispersion. This study develops an integrated monitoring-simulation method to quantify multi-worker dust exposure, assessing how worker position and orientation modulate risk under forced ventilation in narrow roadways. Occupational-specific dust sampling provided validation data for a three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics-Discrete Phase Model (CFD-DPM) incorporating human-ventilation interactions. The model integrates a MATLAB-developed breathing function to dynamically couple respiratory cycles with particle transport, with Visual Basic enabling in-depth mechanistic analysis of exposure determinants. The method enables detailed breathing-zone dust analysis, revealing exposure governed by orientation-driven flow interactions and spatial gradients. Validation against monitoring data confirms model accuracy. Results revealed significant exposure disparities: frontline miners (in dust-generating phases) faced peak concentrations of 19.90 mg/m³ , while maintenance workers (mainly in non-dust-generating phases) were exposed to only 2 mg/m³ . Simulations quantified that exposure intensity was governed by the worker's orientation relative to the primary airflow and dust source, highlighting a key person-flow interaction. A strong spatial gradient was observed, with concentrations of 12–20 mg/m³ on the fresh air intake side, increasing to 18–32 mg/m³ on the exhaust side. It provides novel insights into dust dispersion and offer actionable strategies for ventilation optimization and targeted respiratory protection. This approach supports sustainable mining practices through precision exposure control and enhanced occupational health risk assessment.

Department(s)

Mining Engineering

Publication Status

Full Text Access

Keywords and Phrases

CFD-DPM; Environmental surveillance; Occupational health risk assessment; Respirable dust exposure; Sustainable mining practices

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

2213-3437; 2213-2929

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2026 Elsevier, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jun 2026

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