Suppression Characteristics and Mechanism of Molasses Solution on Coal Dust: A Low-Cost and Environment-Friendly Suppression Method in Coal Mines
Jianguo Liu, Tianyang Wang, Longzhe Jin, Gang Li, Shu Wang, Yixuan Wei, Shengnan Ou, Yapeng Wang, Jingge Xu, Minglei Lin, Jiahui Wang, Xianfeng Liu
Abstract
Coal dust pollution poses a serious public health threat. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of creating a coal dust suppressant using molasses, a byproduct of the sugar industry. We studied the effects of a molasses solution of varying concentrations (i.e., ranging from 0% (pure water) to 40%) on the moisture, bonding, and wind erosion properties of coal dust. Overall, the effectiveness of the molasses increased with their concentration, and it manifested itself in the following way: (1) the molasses improved the anti-evaporation ability of wet coal dust. For example, the evaporation mass of the coal dust wetted using a molasses solution decreased by 82.8%; (2) molasses effectively agglutinated coal dust; (3) molasses can effectively decrease the surface tension and increase the viscosity of the wetting solution. The surface tension of the molasses solution reached 41.37 mN/m and the viscosity increased to 6.79 mPa·s; (4) molasses can significantly suppress the wind erosion of deposited coal dust, with its wind erosion mass decreasing 99.1%; finally, (5) the effectiveness of molasses at suppressing coal dust was discussed at a molecular level. This study highlights the feasibility of a low-cost and environment-friendly dust suppressant in coal mines.