Title: Are surfactants effective for iron ore dust control?

Authors: C.R. Copeland, S.K. Kawatra

Addresses: Department of Chemical Engineering, Michigan Technological University, 1400 Townsend, Dr. Houghton, MI 49931, USA. ' Department of Chemical Engineering, Michigan Technological University, 1400 Townsend, Dr. Houghton, MI 49931, USA

Abstract: Wetting reagents are extremely popular dust suppressants. This is the result of beliefs that effective material wetting was the critical factor in reducing airborne dust. Unfortunately, personnel at an iron ore facility reported wetting reagents were not effective for iron ore. To determine which types of reagents would be effective for iron ore, a novel laboratory dust tower apparatus was developed. This tower allowed for the selection of the most effective dust suppressant through direct dustiness measurements. From these studies, the investigators found that hygroscopic reagents were 86% more effective than water in reducing airborne particulate matter from iron ore.

Keywords: particulate matter; PM; dust suppression; taconite; material wetting; airborne dust; iron ore; wetting reagents; surfactants; dust control; dustiness measurements; hygroscopic reagents.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMSI.2007.013876

International Journal of Materials and Structural Integrity, 2007 Vol.1 No.1/2/3, pp.259 - 276

Published online: 31 May 2007 *

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