Jake Seiter, University of Utah
Engineering
Mining has always been among the most hazardous of occupations, and with the increasing demand for coal and minerals, safety in mines assumes even greater importance. Worldwide, underground miners are being exposed to noise and respirable dust hazards associated with roof bolt drilling. These hazards are now being understood to cause irreparable damage to the health of miners.
The objective of this research was to discover if a Polycrystalline Diamond Cutter (PDC) drill bit generates less respirable dust and hazardous noise than a competing Tungsten Carbide (WC) bit, in dry vacuum drilling. In order to control the drill parameters the drilling tests have been conducted in a laboratory setting. The results were met by determining the quantities of dust and noise generated using each drill bit and analyzing those levels by using monitoring devices and software to collect the data. This paper includes information on experiment setup, equipment used, drilling parameters, and data collected.
Based on these tests no conclusive results can be ascertained pertaining to dust production, due to inconsistencies outside of experiment control. However, there are noticeable trends to suggest that the PDC bits produce less dust than WC bits but more testing is needed to substantiate these trends. The data shows that PDC bits generate on average 2.38 dBA less noise than the WC bits, and attributes to 70.2% less of a Mine Safety and Health Administration-Permissible Exposure Limit (MSHA-PEL) dose. These facts lead to the conclusion that the safety and health of mineworkers is at a higher risk when using a WC drill bit in the place of a PDC bit.