The influence of dust particles on the stability of foam used as dust control in underground coal mines

In China, the presence of significant levels of coal dust suspended in the air is a major health hazard and one of the main causes of disasters in coal production. A new technique was developed to control suspended dust by making use of foam. In this study, the foam structure and foam stability under the influence of dust were investigated. It was found that while foam stability is a key factor in the effectiveness of dust control, dust particles also affect foam stability. In this research, foam was classified to dry or wet foam based on its mass fraction. In this regard, it was observed that dry foam is more stable because of its polyhedral structure. Moreover, a series of experiments were applied to determine the relationship between dust particles in foams with different foaming multiples and foam drainage. The results show that dry foam with dust particles has a lower drainage rate, and it is more stable than foam without dust particles. Such improved foam stability could potentially extend the application of foam technology to dust control in underground coal mines in future.