Study of spray atomization law and dust suppression effect of a wet dust catcher on a hydraulic support

To control effectively large dust concentrations and their diffusion during coal cutting and shifting of shearers at fully mechanized mining faces, a wet dust catcher on a hydraulic support was developed. The spray nozzle suitable for wet dust collection devices was optimized through spray experiments, and the effects of the spray pressure Pw and nozzle tilt angle θ on the droplet size and fog field concentration were analyzed with Fluent. The numerical simulation results show that the wide-angle solid cone nozzle (with an X-type swirl core) with a diameter of 2.4 mm, water pressure Pw of 6 MPa, and nozzle tilt angle θ of 10° toward the windward side can form a better water curtain. Finally, the wet dust catcher was applied at a 22104 fully mechanized mining face of the Shangwan Coal Mine. The dust removal rate of the shearer driver reached 86.20 %, and that at other positions reached 85 % on average. Evidently, the hydraulic support wet dust catcher can effectively control the diffusion of coal dust at fully mechanized mining faces.