CEN JUL
12
TECHNOLOGY
CONTROLLING DUST IS NOT SHORT-SIGHTED
and mining houses will have no option
but to become better informed about new environmental requirements and get up-to-speed
on how best to manage dust emissions.
Although it is accepted in industry that regulations take a long time to implement and
therefore influence business operations, the important thing to consider is, that the legislative
process has started and that strategic planning around the control of dust on mines needs to
start taking place.
Heathcliff Barnard, Technical Manager at Pneumax, states, “The problem of controlling
dust during mining operations is increasingly coming under the spotlight as regulations
in this regard are currently being fine-tuned by two departments of government,” that is,
the Department of Environmental Affairs and the Department of Minerals and Energy. He
continues, “Often, attention is focused on the environmental impacts of acid mine drainage
or the lack of rehabilitation of mines, because the impact of these types of problems are
immediately visible. However, what is often overlooked is the control of air quality around
mines – simply because we can’t see a problem until there is an extreme impact on people
in close proximity to a mine. Because the control of dust is currently not regulated in mining,
mining operators often take short cuts regarding this type of pollution in order to keep
operational costs down. Nevertheless, this will change in the near future.”
Raising awareness
Knowing that legislation often takes years to be finalised and then applied to industry, it
is important to start informing and educating young engineers making their way into the
economy about how the control of dust can contribute to greener mining – a subject that
is becoming increasingly important throughout the world. An initiative that Pneumax has
recently become involved in is the PneuDrive Challenge, a student mechatronic innovation
competition which it co-sponsors with SEW Eurodrive. The theme of this year’s competition is
‘Greener Mining’ – highlighting engineering processes and solutions for engineering students
not yet familiar with mining.
Controlling dust emissions
Control of dust emissions was one of the problem statements put forward in the competition
and students are invited to design an application that can successfully address this problem.
Bag houses are essentially large filtration boxes, and although uncomplicated on an
engineering level, it is the use of the correct components and the engineering processes
related to bag houses that are critical for the successful control of airborne particles. This is a
business and engineering element of mining that students will not be exposed to at university.
Bag houses can be made up of many filtration units that could cover large areas on a mine.
However, it is the components that make up the filtration units of bag houses that are essential
for the effective filtering of dust particles. Two components from Pneumax that are critical to
the effectiveness of bag houses – the Turbo Pulse Valve and the Optyma Terminal Valve –
are not visible from ground level, so, to the untrained eye, it is easy to underestimate how
relatively small components could mean the difference between meeting regulations or not.
Heathcliff says in conclusion, “Hopefully, by engaging young minds around the design and
operation of bag houses, we can encourage students to come up with a revolutionary way of
addressing this very basic mining problem.”
Environmentally friendly
dust management
solutions
In the past, because of a lack
of regulation, controlling
dust around mines was an
‘optional choice’ that many
mining operations avoided
because it was viewed as an
unnecessary expense.
Heath Barnard
, Pneumax Technical Manager,
sharing pneumatic knowledge with students.
Pneumax: Turbo Pulse Valve for Dust Collection
Filtration Systems.
