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Development of a Real-Time Respirable Coal Dust and Silica Dust Monitoring Instrument Based on Photoacoustic Spectroscopy

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Abstract

We report the first spectral photoacoustic measurements of silica, coal, and kaolinite dust absorption coefficients from 11 to 13 μm at 5 nm resolution made with a tunable quantum cascade laser. This is important because airborne silica dust and coal dust within mining environments continue to be a problem for mine workers and staff due to their severe health effects on the respiratory system, while other dust types are potentially interferents to their detection. Our real-time spectra compare favorably with the non-real-time filter-based Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) spectra obtained using the sampling system developed by NIOSH for their end-of-shift method to determine silica dust concentrations using a portable FTIR. We discuss our new dust generation system and instrument testing chamber. We also show that our PM4 silica mass concentration measurements by a low-cost air quality sensor (SPS30) are in good agreement with the TSI Aerosol Particle Sizer instrument, the NIOSH end of shift method, gravimetric mass, and correlate well with photoacoustic light absorption measurements at a wavelength where silica absorbs strongly.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health for funding and technical support. We thank Dr. Emanuele Cauda for his assistance with the NIOSH field-based FTIR technique and the FAST software. Finally, we thank Dr. Mohammadreza Elahifard and Dr. Behrooz Abbasi of the UNR’s Mining and Metallurgical Engineering Department for assistance with X-ray crystallography and Raman spectroscopy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA

    P. Nascimento

  2. Atmospheric Science Program, Department of Physics, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA

    S. J. Taylor & W. P. Arnott

  3. Department of Mining Engineering, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA

    K. C. Kocsis

  4. Division of Atmospheric Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV, USA

    X. L. Wang & H. Firouzkouhi

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  1. P. Nascimento
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Correspondence to K. C. Kocsis.

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Nascimento, P., Taylor, S.J., Arnott, W.P. et al. Development of a Real-Time Respirable Coal Dust and Silica Dust Monitoring Instrument Based on Photoacoustic Spectroscopy. Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration 39, 2237–2245 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42461-022-00653-6

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