Review on smart technologies for coal dust control in the cities with coal seaports

\nAs one of the most important energy resources in the world, coal contributes a great deal to the global economy. Therefore, despite the diversification of energy resources and transition to green energy, there are still a lot of seaports with coal terminals all over the world. Most of these ports are located within the city boundaries quite close to residential areas, and it’s difficult to underestimate their negative impact on the city’s ecology. Coal dust pollution is the main problem for the cities with coal seaports as coal terminals by their nature are active sources of fugitive dust. Coal is typically stored in large piles at port terminals, and these piles often generate significant quantities of coal dust when it’s windy or when the coal is disturbed or moved during the loading and unloading process. Coal dust is not just an aesthetic problem for the cities, it’s a threat to water quality and a possible danger to citizen’s health. The exposure of coal dust can be prevented using administrative and engineering control methods. Nowadays cities are becoming smarter by using innovative technologies to improve the quality of their citizen’s life. At the same time, ports are also becoming smarter and seeking strategies to innovate. The aim of this article is to review the most known smart technologies for coal dust control in the port cities. The scope of our study concerns not only ecological intelligent control systems driven by the Internet of Things technologies and big data analysis but also innovative solutions in traditional coal dust control technologies as water and fog dust suppression or membrane coal sheds construction. We have taken into consideration the proven or potential environmental, financial and social effectiveness of reviewed smart solutions.\n