Abstract
Quantification of airborne dust exposure is an essential step in eliminating lung diseases caused by over exposure to dust. A large number of workers employed in coal boilers are potentially exposed to significant amount of airborne coal dust during work period. The objective of the study was to assess the efficiency of water mist system in reducing airborne coal dust concentration in the working atmosphere near a coal-fired boiler. A sample of 8 workers was selected, representing approximately 80% of the total workforce involved in the coal handling operations. Exposure monitoring was conducted for 480 min during regular working hours. A personal dust sampler was used to capture the airborne coal dust (PM5) before and after installation of water mist system. After quantification and comparison, it was observed that the water mist system successfully reduced up to 81% of respirable dust from the worker’s breathing zone. Further, the respirable dust concentration was reduced from 7.17 to 1.26 mg/m3 which is significantly below from the recommended occupational exposure limit (OEL) of 2 mg/m3. The same technology may be used for many other applications to reduce airborne dust levels and protect worker’s health .
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Vivek, K., Manikandan, H. (2018). Reduction of Coal Dust Exposure Using Water Mist System. In: Maiti, J., Ray, P. (eds) Industrial Safety Management. Managing the Asian Century. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6328-2_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6328-2_3
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