Energies, Vol. 15, Pages 3804: Dust Control Technology in Dry Directional Drilling in Soft and Broken Coal Seams (Energies)

High rate of dust generation and serious dust diffusion in dry directional drilling in soft and broken coal seams (SBCS) have long been critical problems in the mining process. To solve these problems, in this study, a dust hood was designed and applied to realize non-contact dust control in drilling holes. The optimal performance of the dust hood was achieved when different technical parameters, including the gap width between the dust hood and the drill pipe, the air-slot width of the sealing device, the slag discharge pressure, and the air curtain pressure were controlled at 2 mm, 0.2 mm, 0.3 MPa, and 0.5 MPa, respectively. As a result, the dust concentration was reduced from 540 mg/m³ to 15 mg/m³, with dust control efficiency reaching 97.2%. The in situ test results confirmed good dust control effects, as the dust control efficiency reached 98.3% after using the dust hood.