A Laboratory Study on Application of Synthesised Amylopectin-grafted-Polyacrylamide (AP-g-PAM) on Coal Mine Haul Road Dust Emission at Different Atmospheric Temperatures

In this study, a laboratory work was carried out to investigate the effectiveness of synthesised amylopectin-grafted-polyacrylamide (AP-g-PAM) vis-a-vis tap water to control the emission of fugitive dust from haul road of opencast coal mine. AP-g-PAM was synthesised by free radical initiator solution technique. Characterisation of AP-g-PAM was done by 1H NMR spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy, TGA, and intrinsic viscosity measurements. Size distribution of dust sample was done by sieve analysis. Effects of water and that of polymer solution were tested experimentally on dust samples collected from haul road of a mine for the moisture retention capacity at three atmospheric temperatures, namely 25 °C, 35 °C and 45 °C for 8 h duration. Dust emission rate from haul road has been estimated using an empirical equation. From the results, it is found that the AP-g-PAM added solution has high effectiveness to control dust emission than the water alone. Also, it is observed that the effectiveness of polymeric chemical suppressant is highly depended on atmospheric temperature prevailing at the site.