Migration and distribution patterns of cutting dust in a continuous mining face under ventilation disturbance

To understand the migration and distribution patterns of cutting dust in the continuous mining face under ventilation disturbance, the 15218 continuous mining face of the Hongliulin Coal Mine in Shaanxi was taken as the research object. A physical model of the continuous mining face was constructed using SolidWorks. Based on the Euler-Lagrange method, CFD software was employed to numerically simulate the airflow field, dust concentration distribution, and dust particle size distribution. The results showed that: ① Most of the dust-laden airflow in the continuous mining face migrated toward the return air side. Dust primarily accumulated in the triangular area beneath the cutting drum of the continuous miner and in the region from the tail of the continuous miner to the middle of the tunnel. ② Dust accumulation was less in the vortex zone, with some dust accumulating in the shuttle car. In the wake zone, dust formed a concave, strip-like cloud. ③ As the dust-laden airflow moved toward the tunnel exit, coarse dust settled the most, followed by fine dust, while ultrafine dust settled the least. The quantities of ultrafine dust, fine dust, and coarse dust initially increased and then decreased with the increase in tunnel height. The quantities of ultrafine dust, fine dust, and coarse dust decreased as the distance from the mining face and the return air side tunnel wall increased. ④ The dust concentration and area at the breathing zone height decreased as wind speed increased. The proportions of ultrafine dust, fine dust, and coarse dust were approximately 15%, 54%, and 31%, respectively, and were generally unaffected by changes in wind speed. ⑤ A wind speed of 1.6 m/s facilitated dust removal in the breathing zone plane but also lifted more dust into the breathing zone, making it necessary to appropriately increase the wind speed for global dust removal while implementing targeted measures for localized dust control.