This paper presents a case study of respirable dust characterization in a thin-seam coal mine in southern WV. Samples were collected in the intake, near the feeder breaker, and downwind of an active roof bolter, as well as in three downwind locations from the continuous miner during four separate cuts. The dust was analyzed using: scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray (SEM–EDX) to estimate particle size and mineralogy distributions; thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) to estimate coal, non-carbonate, and carbonate mass fractions; and Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy to estimate quartz and kaolinite mass content. SEM–EDX results were generally consistent with those obtained in previous studies of other central Appalachian mines, including presence of relatively high non-carbonate minerals content (primarily aluminosilicates and silica) associated with the rock strata encountered in the mine. Downwind of the miner, fine aluminosilicate particles were particularly abundant and apparently influenced the SEM–EDX analysis for some samples, resulting in underestimation of coal content relative to TGA. Comparison of the microscopy results to those from the TGA and FT-IR indicates some interference between aluminosilicates and coal dust is simply due to high sample loading—however, presence of coal-mineral micro-agglomerates is also indicated.

本文介绍了西弗吉尼亚州南部一个薄煤层煤矿中可吸入粉尘特征的案例研究。在四次单独切割期间，在进料口、给料破碎机附近和主动式锚杆机的顺风处以及连续采矿机的三个顺风位置收集样品。使用扫描电子显微镜和能量色散 X 射线 (SEM-EDX) 对粉尘进行分析，以估计颗粒大小和矿物学分布；热重分析 (TGA) 以估计煤、非碳酸盐和碳酸盐的质量分数；和傅里叶变换红外 (FT-IR) 光谱来估计石英和高岭石的质量含量。SEM-EDX 结果与之前对其他阿巴拉契亚中部矿山的研究中获得的结果大体一致，包括与矿山中遇到的岩层相关的相对较高的非碳酸盐矿物含量（主要是铝硅酸盐和二氧化硅）。矿工顺风处，细铝硅酸盐颗粒特别丰富，明显影响了一些样品的 SEM-EDX 分析，导致相对于 TGA 的煤含量被低估。将显微镜结果与 TGA 和 FT-IR 的结果进行比较表明，铝硅酸盐和煤尘之间的一些干扰仅仅是由于高样品量 - 但是，也表明存在煤-矿物微团聚体。导致相对于 TGA 的煤含量被低估。将显微镜结果与 TGA 和 FT-IR 的结果进行比较表明，铝硅酸盐和煤尘之间的一些干扰仅仅是由于高样品量 - 但是，也表明存在煤-矿物微团聚体。导致相对于 TGA 的煤含量被低估。将显微镜结果与 TGA 和 FT-IR 的结果进行比较表明，铝硅酸盐和煤尘之间的一些干扰仅仅是由于高样品量 - 但是，也表明存在煤-矿物微团聚体。