Canopy Air Curtain Technology for Shuttle Car Cabs

By Hua Jiang, NIOSH

Past studies have shown that shuttle car operators on mines using blowing face ventilation can experience high dust levels when loading at the face because they are essentially in return airflow. We entered into an RFP with Fletcher to develop canopy-air-curtain technology to address this concern. The study was conducted at Peabody’s Francisco mine and dust levels were reduced by more than 60% during shuttle car loading, which was statistically significant at a 95% level. Significant reductions were also observed when the shuttle car was tramming and unloading at the feeder/breaker.