Intelligent dry fog dust suppression system:

an efficient technique for controlling air

pollution in the mineral processing plant

Kunal Saurabh, S. K. Chaulya,

R. S. Singh, Sunil Kumar & K. K. Mishra

Clean Technologies and

Environmental Policy
Focusing on Technology Research,
Innovation, Demonstration, Insights
and Policy Issues for Sustainable
Technologies

ISSN 1618-954X

Clean Techn Environ Policy

DOI 10.1007/s10098-020-01991-z

1 23
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 Author's personal copy
Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-020-01991-z

ORIGINAL PAPER

Intelligent dry fog dust suppression system: an efficient technique

for controlling air pollution in the mineral processing plant
Kunal Saurabh1 · S. K. Chaulya1 · R. S. Singh1 · Sunil Kumar1 · K. K. Mishra1

Received: 14 August 2020 / Accepted: 10 November 2020

© Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020

Abstract 
Dust suppression system plays a significant role in mining and allied industries. It has become an integral part of the envi-
ronmental management system. Dust emission from mining and mineral processing industries poses environmental and
health problems to workers and surrounding people. Dust creates a reliability issue in machinery and ventilation systems,
causing infrastructural damage and the industry’s financial losses. This paper deals with a smart dry fog dust suppression
system which has been developed for effectively controlling dust emission from mining and mineral processing activities.
The system has been implemented in an iron ore crushing and screening plant in India, and its efficacy has been evaluated for
controlling dust emission. The installed dry fog system reduced dust concentration to 0.10–0.17 mg m−3 from the prevailing
dust concentration of 0.62–1.73 mg m−3 in work zone areas, which was much below the permissible limit below 1 mg m−3
where silica content in the dust was less than 5%. Percentage of free silica in the work zone dust reduced to traces from 3.61 to
4.80%. Similarly, P
­ M10 and P­ M2.5 concentrations in the ambient air were decreased to 90–99 μg m−3 and 49–58 μg m−3 from
185 to 250 μg m and 148–200 μg m−3, respectively. Further, concentrations of P
−3
­ M10 and P
­ M2.5 were drastically reduced by
51.35–60.4% and 69.69–71.0%, respectively. The reduced dust concentrations in the ambient air were within the prescribed
limit of ­PM10 (100 μg m−3) and ­PM2.5 (60 μg m−3). The system significantly reduces dust and free silica concentration in
the work zone areas below the permissible limit. The system controls dust emission with an increase in production as it
has been found that the number of nozzles is directly correlated with a reduction in dust. Furthermore, the system does not
change the raw material’s mass as water added to dust is less than 0.01% of the raw material. The system is designed to give
the best results within the closed environment of the plant. The system helps in eco-friendly and clean mining. The system
reduces the breakdown and maintenance cost of mining equipment, thereby decreasing overall operating costs. Further, the
system minimizes mine workers’ health problems, like silicosis and severe other occupation diseases. The system is auto-
matic, cost-effective, energy efficient, and easy to maintain. Further, the system is capable of handling dust problems in the
closed environment of crushing and screening plants. These properties make the system techno-economically feasible for
installation in mineral processing plants.
Graphic abstract

Keywords  Control of dust emission · Dry fog suppression system · Mining · Screening and crushing plant
* S. K. Chaulya
chaulyask@gmail.com Abbreviations
Ci Concentration of dust
1
CSIR-Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, Barwa DSS Dust suppression system
Road, Dhanbad 826 001, India

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 Author's personal copy
DGMS Directorate General of Mines Safety
FPU Flow pressure control unit
NMDC National Mineral Development Corporation
NAAQS National ambient air quality standard
PM2.5 Particulate matter of size less than 2.5 μm
diameter
PM10 Particulate matter of size less than 10 μm
diameter
PLC Programmable logic controller
DIOM Donimalai iron ore mine
S1 Site 1
S2 Site 2
S3 Site 3
S4 Site 4
S5 Site 5
S6 Site 6
SP1 Sample person 1
SP2 Sample person 2
SP3 Sample person 3
SP4 Sample person 4
SP5 Sample person 5
Ti Time period of dust exposure in hour
TWA​ Time-weighted average
Introduction
Environmental engineering and industrial pollution control
are among the core aspects of the mining industry (Sman-
dych et al. 1998). Dust refers to all particulate matters below
100 µm in diameter. It is of grave concern for workers’ over-
exposure to respirable crystalline silica (Li et al. 2019). Dust
particles adversely affect the air quality required for breath-
ing through an airborne deposition. The harmful effects
of dust particles on human health are well documented by
many researchers (Singh and Tripathi 2009; Gautam et al.
2016, Gautam et al. 2018a, b; Patra et al. 2016, b; Tripathi
et al. 2016; Song et al. 2019). Dust particles adversely affect
the ecology and environment around mines and their activ-
ity (Jose et al. 2017). A large volume of dust particles is
formed during mining activities like drilling, blasting, trans-
portation, etc. (Chaulya et al. 2002, 2019; Chaulya 2003a, b,
c, 2005, 2006; Lal and Tripathy 2012; Mandal et al. 2012;
Gautam and Patra 2015; Patra et al. 2016, b; Gautam et al.
2018a, b). These particles also affect the running of mining
machinery and local infrastructures.
Further, indoor dust accumulation is one of the main
reasons for premature failure and reduction in machines’
reliability. Large amounts of dust deposition on a filter or
in a ventilation system decrease airflow. The reduced air-
flow may result in overheating, equipment malfunctions,
breakdowns, unnecessary repair, and high replacement costs
(Smith 2010). The breathing of excess crystalline silica dust
13
K. Saurabh et al.
can cause silicosis. When silica dust enters the lungs for a
long time, it causes scar tissue formation in the lungs and
breathing passages, which makes breathing problems.
Many dust suppression systems have been designed to
overcome these challenges based on different principles
(Wintering 2016). Dry fog dust suppression system is based
on forced air or suction to collect dust from the air and cir-
culate it into a filtration system. It consists of fabric bags
or special filters designed to trap all kinds of particles from
the air. This arrangement is designed to work in a specific
area. The conventional water spraying method as a measure
of dust control wets the material before the dust is generated
(Zhang 2007). The electrostatic precipitator technology con-
sists of grounded collecting plates that ionize the air. In the
process, dust becomes negatively charged and gets collected
via rapping plates and air-powered anvil (Mattews 2014).
However, this system has a very high initial cost, and it is
not suitable for all kinds of dust.
The dry fog dust suppression system handles dust before
it is produced, unlike conventional water spraying methods.
The dry fog system uses ultrasonic nozzles by injecting air
and water at high pressure for dust suppression (Farnham
et al. 2015). The mist fog system uses fine nozzles and high
water pressure to produce droplets size of 50–200 µm. Dry
fog does not wet the raw material. It only wets the suspended
air particles. The unique nozzle creates droplets of the size
of 1–50 µm, which are comparable to the size of suspended
air particles (Brabec et al. 2004). This makes the technique
more effective for dust suppression by overcoming the sur-
face tension and slipstream effects of suspended particles
compared to the water spraying technique using larger water
droplets (Kintea et al. 2016). The use of air and water spray-
ing systems can reduce dust concentration, and they contrib-
ute to a significant reduction of dust concentration in the air
(Prostański 2013).
To assess the particulate matter concentration in a mining
area, field studies were conducted in the working and buffer
zones of the crushing and screening plant of Donimalai
iron ore mine, which is located in Karnataka state of India.
The measured ­PM10 concentration at six monitoring sites in
the work zone of crushing and screening plant varied from
1202 to 1540 μg m−3 with an average value of 1394 μg m−3
and a standard deviation of 122 μg m−3, whereas ­PM2.5
concentration ranged between 176 and 310 μg m−3 with
an average value of 232 μg m−3 and a standard deviation
of 53 μg m−3. The measured ­PM10 concentration in buffer
zone of the crushing and screening plant covering six sam-
pling locations varied from 185 to 250  μg  m−3 with an
average value of 213 μg m−3 and a standard deviation of
24.82 μg m−3. Similarly, ­PM10 concentration ranged between
148 and 200 μg m−3 with an average value of 184 μg m−3
and a standard deviation of 22.06 μg m−3. Concentrations
of ­PM10 and ­PM2.5 at all the sampling stations in the buffer
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Intelligent dry fog dust suppression system: an efficient technique for controlling air…

zone of the crushing and screening plant were higher than

the standard limit of 100 and 60 μg m−3, respectively, as
per the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS),
2009. Hence, an effective dust suppression system shall be
designed and installed in the crushing and screening plant
to bring down the particulate matter concentration below
the permissible limit.
An intelligent dry fog dust suppression system has been
developed to control dust emission from mining activi-
ties as well as to reduce health and operational problems.
After keeping in mind the directive of the Directorate Gen-
eral of Mines Safety, India (DGMS 2020), the system has
been designed. This mandates that dust concentration at all
work zone locations shall be below the permissible limit of
1 mg m−3, where silica content in the dust is less than 5%.
The system’s primary purpose is to provide a complete solu-
tion for controlling dust emission by suppressing the dust at
its generation point while keeping in mind the minimum or
negligible addition of water in the material (less than 0.1%
of material weight).
The developed technology consists of ultrasonic and
atomizing nozzles, pump, compressors, air receivers, valves,
control units, and sensors, including proximity sensors, Fig. 1  Location of the study site
zero switches, and programmed under belt sensors to work
automatically using a smart programmable logic controller
(PLC) system. The main scope of the paper includes (a)
monitoring and assessment of air quality in the work zone
of the crushing and screening plant, (b) performance assess-
ment of the designed dust suppression system by analyzing
different dust suppression parameters, and (c) monitoring of
ambient air quality before and after implementation of the
developed system at different locations in the buffer zone.

Study site

Donimalai iron ore mine (DIOM) of National Mineral

Development Corporation (NMDC) Limited is located in Fig. 2  Wind rose diagram of the study site (wind speed, m s−1)
Bellary district of Karnataka state in India, having 15° 2ʹ 00′′
to 15° 86ʹ 30′′ N latitude and 76° 36ʹ 00′′ to 76° 38ʹ 30′′ E
longitude. The location map is shown in Fig. 1. The experi- 26.2 °C and precipitation is about 644 mm. The predominant
ments were conducted for dust concentration at the work wind direction is east–north–east (Fig. 2).
zone and buffer zone of Donimalai crushing and screening
plant with the design capacity of 1800 t h−1 iron ore han-
dling using a continuous loading system. Dust suppression principle

Climate
The Donimalai district is known for its hot summer and
parched weather during the significant part of the year. There
is little rainfall throughout the year. This climate is consid-
ered to be hot semiarid, according to the Köppen-Geiger
climate classification. The average annual temperature is
The dry fog dust suppression system (Fig. 3) works on the
principle of agglomeration. The released dust particles from
a screening and crushing plant become airborne and pass
through a blanket of excellent fog. The dust particles and
micron size fog droplets collide and adhere to each other.
Thus, by increasing their mass, and by the act of gravity,
they settle on the ground. The dry fog system can control all

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Fig. 3  Application of dry fog dust suppression system
breathable and fugitive dust types ranging from 1 to 100 µm
(Smandych et al. 1998). Fine droplets evaporate before wet-
ting anything other than the fugitive airborne dust. The
water addition is limited to 0.1% by the weight of the mate-
rial being handled (Chowdhury et al. 2020). The technol-
ogy does not require any chemicals to break up the surface
tension. The unique nozzle is designed to create droplets
of less than 50 µm comparable to suspended air particles
(Brabec et al. 2004). These droplets effectively remove sus-
pended dust particles compared to spray droplets (Kintea
et al. 2016).
Design principle
The technology consists of dry fog hybrid nozzles, air com-
pressors, pumps, water tanks, flow and pressure control
units, and motion detection sensors for conveyor belts and
feeders. The system starts operation once the motion sensor
detects movement in conveyors and feeders. The compressed
air at 5 kg cm−2 pressure, and water at 0.5–1 kg cm−2 pres-
sure is fed to hybrid nozzles. Consequently, the nozzle gives
droplets of size 1–50 µm. The nozzle is an air-driven oscil-
lator for fogging liquids by passing through a field of high-
pressure air and results in an airstream mixed with water for
Fig. 4  Major components of dry fog dust suppression system
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K. Saurabh et al.
forming fog. These foggy water drops pass through an annu-
lar orifice and convert into relatively small droplets. These
small droplets carry by the air stream with intense shock and
convert into micron size droplets. It results in better agglom-
eration of dust particles with dry fog, which reduces particle
matters in the work zone. The dry fog system’s total water
requirement is about 0.1% of the total weight of handling
raw material.
Flow pressure control unit
Flow pressure control unit (FPU) regulates airflow and
water pressure into the system. The water pump sends
water at 10 kg cm−2 pressure, and the air compressor passes
air at 8 kg cm−2 through the air receiver into FPU. The
FPU controls air pressure (5 kg cm−2) and water pressure
(0.5–1 kg cm−2) before feeding to hybrid nozzles for effec-
tive dry fog generation.
System function
The system’s main components are water tank, air com-
pressors, water pump, control, valves, FPU, sensors, a
programmable logic controller (PLC), and atomizing noz-
zles (Fig. 4). The pressure regulators and pressure control
switches, which safeguard the operation in such pressure and
confirm the conveyor system is running with sufficient load
(sensed by under belt switches) and maintain the set pres-
sure (sensed by pressure switches). The system is designed
to trips of the control FPU of the dry fog system if the con-
veyor system runs without load or the set pressure value
goes down. The flow activation switch is controlled by FPU,
which can be operated through manual or automatic mode
using a selector switch. Pressure switches ensure air and
water line solenoid valves to energize with the preset line
pressure. This feature safeguards the system from spraying
un-atomizing water to the dust. In addition to the pressure
regulating unit, fine strainers and filters are fitted in the air
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and water line to maintain the fog characteristics for gener-
ating optimal dry fog droplets without clogging of nozzles.
Numbers of non-return valve arrangements are fitted in the
system to restrict backflow. A dedicated water pump propels
the water from the storage tank into the spray headers line
through the flow control unit and pressure regulating unit,
which activates the solenoid valves present in the line. The
water storage tank is designed with the necessary facilities,
like an air vent, float valve, and level sensors. The solenoids
valves receive feedback from level sensors to confirm the
availability of sufficient water in the tank. The entire system
is designed to operate through PLC. The control panel con-
taining the PLC arrangement controls the operation of the
flow activation unit and pressure regulators to confirm the
system’s proper functioning even in auto mode. The control
unit optimizes the line air and water pressure to generate the
required size of droplets, which form dry fog that agglom-
erates with dust particles. The complete flowchart of the
system is shown in Fig. 5.
• Water is broken into smaller finer droplets for proper
agglomeration with suspended dust particles and creates
high pressure at small orifices of hybrid nozzles.
• Movable frustum accurately controls the direction and
spread angle of fog from hybrid nozzles.
• A small amount of water is used for fog spraying, which
reduces particulate matters ­(PM2.5 and P­ M10) and other
pollutants from the air.
• The system works in dual operating modes for automatic
and manual operation with a remote operation facility.
• Automatic fog triggers using sensors to increase dust
concentration.
• Automatic fog sprays only when the conveyor operates
using PLC and under belt switch.
• The system continuously works using a water level indi-
cator in the water storage tank.
Methodology of dust monitoring

Technological advancement Dust concentration and free silica were measured in the work
zone (core zone) and buffer zone of Donimalai crushing and
The developed smart dry fog dust suppression system has screening plant before installation (during January 4–10,
the following novel features: 2018 and March 17–23, 2018) and after installation (during
September 12–23, 2019 and November 21–23, 2019) of the
• The system efficiently controls dust emissions from the dry fog dust suppression system. The work zone refers to an
work zone environment. operational area within the crushing and screening plant.
Fugitive dust particles are emitted due to mineral process-
ing transported to the buffer zone because of wind blowing.
The buffer zone denotes the work zone’s surrounding area
Start the system covering a 10 km radius around the core zone.

No
Measurement of dust in the core zone
Check conveyor
running status System is offline
Dust monitoring was carried out in the working/core zone
Yes following the guidelines of the Directorate General of
Mines Safety, India (DGMS 2004). Personal dust samplers
or cyclone samplers (SKC-SIDEKICK, USA) were used
Switch on the Switch on the
water pump air pump to sample respirable dust and free silica assessment in the
work zone of the Donimalai crushing and screening plant.
No
The smaller particle is carried into the filter paper inside the
Activate flow Check conveyor sampler’s cassette, and larger unwanted particles are dropped
pressure unit running status into the grit pot. It separates the respirable fraction below
10 µm size of the particulate matter from the atmosphere
Yes
Start nozzles drawn through it.
The filter papers were weighed during pre- and post-
samplings. The instrument was run at a flow rate of 2.2 L
Spray dry fog for
dust suppression per minute as per the standard procedure. Personal dust
samplers were fitted on the shirt below the neck of a few
selected workers in the crushing and screening plant at the
Fig. 5  Flowchart of the designed system

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beginning of each shift and removed at the end of the 8 h
shift. The duration of the operation of the instrument was
noted. Samplings were carried out for two working shifts
during 14 days each before and after installing a dry fog
dust suppression system in different crushing and screening
plants. Samples were collected in the field and brought to
the laboratory in plastic zippers and put in desiccators for
24 h. Final weight (W2) was taken in an electronic balance
with five-digit accuracy. The weight difference (W2–W1) of
the filter paper was divided by the volume of air sampled to
get dust concentration.
As there was a variation in exposure duration for differ-
ent workers, time-weighted average (TWA) respirable dust
concentration has been calculated to represent the exposure
level of the particular worker for 8 h duration as per the fol-
lowing formula:
TWA = C1 × T1 + C2 × T2 + ⋯ Cn × Tn ∕8 (1)
[( ) ( ) ( )]
C1, C2,…Cn is the occupational exposure concentration
during different periods of the worker duty (mg m−3); T1,
T2, …Tn are the time for that exposure (h). When the worker
was not present in the work zone during his 8 h shift duty,
Fig. 6  Ambient air quality monitoring locations
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K. Saurabh et al.
dust concentration exposure for that period was considered
zero for calculating average dust exposure for the entire 8 h
shift period.
Measurement of dust in the buffer zone
As per the NAAQS 2009, the buffer zone’s air quality should
be less than 100 and 60 μg m−3 for 24 h average ­PM10 and
­PM2.5 concentrations, respectively. Sampling for ambient
air quality analysis was carried out for 24 h using a res-
pirable dust sampler following the standard methodology
prescribed by CPCB (2013) for 2 weeks before installing a
dust suppression system (DSS) and 2 weeks after installa-
tion of DSS. Respirable dust samplers (APM60, Envirotech
Pvt. Ltd., India) were installed at six locations in the buffer
zone, marked in Google map (Fig. 6), and details are given
in Table 1. Sampling and measurement of P ­ M10 and P­ M2.5
were carried out following the NAAQS 2009. Samplings
were carried out twice a week covering 24 h duration each
time. Dust was accumulated over the pre-weighted grass
microfiber filter paper fitted in a high volume sampler at the
monitoring site. The samples were brought to the laboratory
in plastic zippers. The used filter papers were kept in a dry
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Table 1  Ambient air quality monitoring stations in the buffer zone

Station ID Location Distance from Topography Latitude and longitude
the work zone
(km)

S1 Near Krishna Temple 2.12 602 m RL, gently sloping area, a temple is located 15° 03′ 52.64′′ N, 76° 35′ 33.29′′ E
near the site along with road and trees
S2 Near post office 2.07 620 m RL, gently sloping area, a post office is 15° 03′ 40.07′′ N, 76° 35′ 33.36′′ E
located near the site along with road and trees
S3 Guest house 1.98 631 m RL, gently sloping area, a guest house is 15° 03′ 32.89′′ N, 76° 35′ 35.58′′ E
located near the site along with road and trees
S4 Staff quarter 2.22 623 m RL, gently sloping area, staff quarters are 15° 03′ 36.85′′ N, 76° 35′ 27.89′′ E
located near the site along with road and trees
S5 Main gate 1.69 610 m RL, gently sloping area, NMDC mine’s main 15° 03′ 43.93′′ N, 76° 35′ 46.01′′ E
gate is located near the site along with road and
trees
S6 Near guest house 2.14 632 m RL, gently sloping area, gate house and club 15° 03′ 34.83′′ N, 76° 35′ 30.79′′ E
house are located near the site along with road and
trees

air oven at 105 °C temperature for 2 h duration and cooled
in a big desiccator.
The initial weight (W1) and final weight (W2) of the filter
paper were measured using an electronic balance with five-
digit accuracy. The weight difference (W2–W1) of the filter
paper was divided by the volume of air sampled to get the
concentration of dust as per the following calculation:
W2 − W1
Dust concentration =
Volume of air sampled
Plant and environmental parameters
The plant and environmental parameters of the screening
and crushing plant during the study period were: (1) Speed
of conveyor belt: 2.4 m s−1; (2) Maximum plant capacity:
1800 t h−1 of ore handling; (3) Average operating feed of
material during the study period: 780 t ­h−1; (4) Temperature:
minimum 18 ± 2 °C and maximum 28 ± 2 °C; (5) Humidity:
80 ± 3%; (6) Number of dry fog nozzles: screening plant
134 (81 operational) and crushing plant 36 (22 operational).
Software used
Statistical analysis was carried out following the machine
learning algorithm using a Jupyter notebook. It contains API
of Python language for various regression, deep learning,
and reinforcement learning models, enabling fast calculation
of the results and graphs (https​://jupyt​er.org/try).
Calculation for change in dust concentration
Dust concentration analysis depends upon the number of
nozzles, amount of water used for dry fog (< 0.1% of mate-
rial weight), and average production per hour along with
(2) optimization of environmental parameters. Change in dust
concentration (%) before and after installation of the dust
suppression system (DSS) was calculated as:
(3)
[( ) ]
Dc = Wd1 −Wd2 × 100 ∕Wd1
where Dc is the change in dust concentration (%), ­Wd1 is
dust concentration before DSS installation (mg m−3), and
­Wd2 is dust concentration after DSS installation (mg m−3).
Assumptions and limitations
For analysis of the dry fog dust suppression system’s opti-
mum performance, it was assumed that throughout the
study period, the average belt conveyor speed was 2.4 m s−1
and the average operating feed of material to the plant was
780 t h−1. However, there were variations in belt conveyor
speed and feed of material. Similarly, average wind speed
and direction, and humidity were considered uniform though

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K. Saurabh et al.

changes and water is absorbed by raw material. This results

Fig. 7  Dust concentration in the work zone before and after installa-
tion of DSS
variations of these parameters were observed during the
study period.
Results and discussion
The existing conventional system for dust suppression uses
water sprinkling to reduce air dust concentration. The draw-
back of this system is that by the addition of water, the mass
in a slightly higher weight of the raw material and clogging
of wet mineral on the sieving screen in the processing plant.
The existing dry dust suppression systems are based on the
principle of either forced or suction of dust-laden air and
passing it through a filtration system. These systems consist
of fabric bags or special filters designed to trap all kinds of
particles from the air. These systems are costly and not very
effective for mineral processing plants where a considerable
quantity of dust is being emitted. The systems are designed
to work in one specific area.
Furthermore, the electrostatic precipitator consists of
grounded collecting plates between 40,000 and 60,000 V.
The plates ionize the air, and in the process, dust becomes
negatively charged and gets collected via rapping plates and
air-powered anvil. This system has a very high initial cost
and it is not suitable for mineral processing plants as the
emission sources cover a wide area. The other dust suppres-
sion system is designed as a centrifugal dust collector. This
system is also not very useful as it has very high mainte-
nance and initial cost. Consequently, in the present study,
a smart dry dust suppression system has been designed
to suppress dust effectively using less water and power
consumption.

Table 2  Dust concentration in the screening plant before and after implementation of DSS
Sample Id Dust concentration before DSS Dust concentration after DSS Number of Water addition by dry Average production/
installation (mg m−3) installation (mg m−3) nozzles fog (kg h−1) material handling (t
­h−1)

SP1 0.624 (± 0.60) 0.172 (± 0.010) 25 600 896

SP2 1.522 (± 0.15) 0.168 (± 0.005) 27 648 784
SP3 0.768 (± 0.05) 0.103 (± 0.007) 26 624 857
SP4 1.731 (± 0.14) 0.166 (± 0.011) 27 648 651
SP5 1.687 (± 0.13) 0.134 (± 0.009) 27 648 712

Fig. 8  View of dust concentra-

tion reduction in the work zone
after installation of DSS

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Intelligent dry fog dust suppression system: an efficient technique for controlling air…

processing activities was negligible, which resulted in occur-

rence of similar dust concentration after installation of DSS.
The ambient air quality data at the selected six loca-
tions in the buffer zone are given in Table 3. Before DSS
installation, the ­PM10 values exhibited in the range of 185
to 250 μg m−3 being the maximum value at site S5 and the
minimum at S3 site (Fig. 9). The P ­ M2.5 values varied from
148 to 200 μg m−3 being the maximum at S5 and the mini-
mum at S4 sites. It was observed that concentrations of P ­ M10
and ­PM2.5 in the buffer zone of DIOM were higher than the
permissible limit of the NAAQS 2009 before the installa-
tion of DSS.
Post-installation of DSS, the minimum and maximum
values of P­ M10 exhibited in the range of 90 to 99 μg m−3,
Fig. 9  PM10 and P ­ M2.5 concentrations in the buffer zone before and
being the maximum at S5 site and the minimum at S3 site.
after installation of DSS
Similarly, ­PM2.5 values varied from 49 to 58 μg m−3 with
the maximum at the S5 site and the minimum at the S3 site.
Table 3  Air quality assessment results at the selected sites in the Results indicated that dust concentrations of ­PM10 and ­PM2.5
buffer zone were drastically reduced by 51.35–60.4% and 69.69–71.0%,
Location ID PM10 (µg m−3) PM2.5 (µg m−3) respectively. The reduced values were within the prescribed
limit of the NAAQS 2009.
Before DSS After DSS Before DSS After DSS

S1 211 (± 15) 97 (± 6) 199 (± 13) 55 (± 9) Effect of fog and nozzle on dust concentration
S2 200 (± 9) 96 (± 8) 194 (± 9) 52 (± 7)
S3 185 (± 7) 90 (± 5) 165 (± 11) 50 (± 10) The addition of water was transformed into the dry fog,
S4 198 (± 10) 93 (± 7) 148 (± 10) 49 (± 11) significantly reducing dust concentration in the work zone
S5 250 (± 13) 99 (± 9) 200 (± 14) 58 (± 15) under the optimized environmental conditions. The average
S6 236 (± 12) 98 (± 8) 198 (± 12) 56 (± 12) raw material handling in the processing plant was 780 t h−1
during the study period. The amount of water added by
weight for the generation of dry fog was 633.6 kg h−1. The
Work zone and buffer zone dust concentration ratio of average water addition to average raw material
production was calculated to be 0.0008, which was much
The dust concentration in the work zone should be below below 0.1% of material weight. Water applied in the form
1 µg m−3 as the percentage of free silica in the dust was of dry fog and the work zone dust concentration were posi-
less than 5% (DGMS 2020). The work zone’s prevailing tively related (p < 0.05) through the ordinary least squares
dust concentration was 0.624–1.731 mg m−3 in the crush- (OLS) regression model, as given in Table 4 and depicted
ing and screening plant before installation of DSS (Fig. 7). in Fig. 10. It indicated that water in dry fog significantly
The concentration of dust was recorded before installing maintained the work zone dust concentration levels below
the DSS system and after installation of the DSS system the permissible limit.
with the same ambient conditions and production rate of Dust concentration was also positively related to the num-
raw material. The concentration was markedly reduced to ber of nozzles (p < 0.05) of the respective work zone area, as
0.103–0.172 mg m−3 (Table 2) after installing DSS in the given in Table 5. Results indicated that, on average, a nozzle
work zone locations (Figs. 8 and 9). dispersed 24 l h−1, which was in the required range for a sig-
The installed system effectively controlled emission of nificant reduction of dust concentration (Prostański 2013).
dust from mineral processing activities, and dust concentra- The dry fog nozzles worked effectively with frustum’s help
tion in the work zone was mainly due to the background at the nozzle mouth, which provides efficient throwing of dry
concentration of the study area. Further, some of the moni- fog in the required direction with better coverage to reduce
toring stations were located within the same vicinity within dust concentration in the work zone environment signifi-
the screening plant and emission of dust from mineral cantly. John-Glen and Oliver (2015) and Yang et al. (2019)

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K. Saurabh et al.

Table 4  Summary of regression Output parameter Model statistical output Model details

analysis for assessing the effect
of water sprinkling by the R-squared 0.862 Model: ordinary least squares (OLS)
system on dust reduction in the
Coefficient 0.2750 Method: least squares
work zone
Standard error 0.064 No. of observation: 5
t-static 4.321 Degree of freedom (Df) residuals: 3
Value of significance (p) < 0.05 Covariance type: Non-robust
Quartile range [0.025, 0.975] [0.072, 0.478] Degree of freedom (Df): Model-1
Adjusted R-squared 0.816
F-statistic 18.67
Probability of F-statistic 0.023
Log-likelihood − 11.95
Akaike’s information criterion (AIC) 27.92
Bayesian information criterion (BIC) 27.14
Durbin–Watson 2.411
Jarque–Bera (JB) 0.554
Probability of JB 0.758
Multicollinearity test (condition no.) 2.62e4
Omnibus Nan
Probability of omnibus Nan
Skew 0.653
Kurtosis 2.023

also reported that placing frustum in the nozzle helped to
maintain suitable spray plume geometry for reducing the
dust.
Graphical regression representation of percentage drop
in dust versus the number of nozzles is presented in Fig. 11.
The adjusted R-squared value was similar to the water trans-
formed into the dry fog. This is because the number of noz-
zles and water addition by weight was directly correlated
(Fig.  12). The present system supports the reduction of
dust up to 92%, similar to the value reported by Prostański
(2013).

Effect of production on dust concentration and free

silica

Generally, raw material production enhances dust produc-

Fig. 10  Graphical representation of percentage drop in dust versus
water added by weight
tion. The experimental study indicated that increased raw
material production reduced the percent drop in dust con-
centration. However, the relation between average produc-
tion and percent drop in dust was not significantly related
(p > 0.05) (Table 6 and Fig. 13).
Free silica concentration was reduced in the atmosphere
when dust concentration was decreased (Fig. 14). The free
silica percentage was in the range of 3.61–4.80% before
the installation of DSS. However, free silica was reduced
to traces after the installation of DSS (Table 7). Thus, the
installed DSS had eliminated the suspended free silica from
the work zone environment.

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Intelligent dry fog dust suppression system: an efficient technique for controlling air…

Table 5  Summary of regression Output parameter Model statistical output Model details

analysis for assessing the effect
of number of nozzles on dust R-squared 0.862 Model: ordinary least squares (OLS)
reduction in the work zone
Coefficient 132 Method: least squares
environment
Standard error 0.064 No. of observation: 5
t-static 4.321 Degree of freedom (Df) residuals: 3
Value of significance (p) < 0.05 Covariance type: Non-robust
Quartile range [0.025, 0.975] [0.072, 0.478] Degree of freedom (Df): Model-1
Adjusted R-squared 0.816
F-statistic 18.67
Probability of F-statistic 0.023
Log-likelihood 11.95
Akaike’s information criterion (AIC) 27.92
Bayesian information criterion (BIC) 27.14
Durbin–Watson 2.411
Jarque–Bera (JB) 0.554
Probability of JB 0.758
Multicollinearity test (condition no.) 873
Omnibus Nan
Probability of omnibus Nan
Skew 0.653
Kurtosis 2.023

Merits

The system significantly reduces dust and free silica concen-

tration in the work zone areas below the permissible limit.
The system also reduces dust concentrations in the ambient
air of the buffer zone within the standard limit. Further, the
system is effective, smart, and automotive. It uses less water
using the specially designed hybrid nozzles with frustum and
sensors and control units to operate the system only when
the mining or mineral processing plant is in operation. It
requires no chemical for dust suppression and consequently
has no environmental impacts. Hence, the system promotes
eco-friendly and clean mining by effectively controlling air
pollution.

Demerits

Fig. 11  Graphical representation of percentage drop in dust versus
the number of nozzles
The system has a few demerits. The system works very well
in a closed environment with an opening from one side.
In open space, dry fog particles blow away along with the
wind. Further, the system needs constant monitoring of
water impurities, which may hamper the nozzle’s working
by clogging.

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K. Saurabh et al.

Fig. 12  Correlation (heat map)

graph for various parameters
of DSS

Table 6  Summary of regression Output parameter Model statistical output Model details

analysis for assessing the effect
of raw material production on R-squared 0.590 Model: ordinary least squares (OLS)
dust reduction in the work zone
Coefficient − 0.0606 Method: least squares
environment after installation of
the system Standard error 0.029 No. of observation: 5
t-static − 2.078 Degree of freedom (Df) residuals: 3
Value of significance (p) > 0.05 Covariance type: Non-robust
Quartile range [0.025, 0.975] [− 0.153, 0.032] Degree of freedom (Df): Model-1
Adjusted R-squared 0.453
F-statistic 4.319
Probability of F-statistic 0.129
Log-likelihood 14.673
Akaike’s information criterion (AIC) 33.35
Bayesian information criterion (BIC) 32.56
Durbin–Watson 2.112
Jarque–Bera (JB) 0.454
Probability of JB 0.797
Multicollinearity test (condition no.) 6.84e3
Omnibus Nan
Probability of omnibus Nan
Skew − 0.282
Kurtosis 1.636

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Fig. 13  Graphical representation of drop in dust versus production Fig. 14  Effect of dust concentration on free silica

Table 7  Free silica and dust Sample ID Dust concentration before Dust concentration after Free silica before Free silica after
concentration before and after installation DSS (mg m−3) installation of DSS DSS installation DSS installation
installation of DSS (mg m−3) (%)

SP1 0.624 (± 0.60) 0.172 (± 0.010) 3.614 (± 0.31) Traces

SP2 1.522 (± 0.15) 0.168 (± 0.005) 3.859 (± 0.25) Traces
SP3 0.768 (± 0.05) 0.103 (± 0.007) 4.140 (± 0.21) Traces
SP4 1.731 (± 0.14) 0.166 (± 0.011) 4.802 (± 0.17) Traces
SP5 1.687 (± 0.13) 0.134 (± 0.009) 4.751 (± 0.15) Traces

Conclusions nozzles, smart as it consumes power only during produc-

An intelligent dry fog dust suppression system has been
developed to control dust emission from mining and min-
eral processing activities. The developed smart dry fog dust
suppression system was installed in a crushing and screening
plant of an iron ore mine, and its performance was evaluated.
Working features of the implemented dry dust suppression
system and its performance data indicated that the values
were kept below the respective permissible limit required
guidelines of different regulatory authorities for controlling
dust in the work zone and buffer zone. Work zone dust con-
centration at all the locations of Donimalai crushing and
screening plant was much below the permissible limit of
1 mg m−3 after installation of DSS. Particular matter con-
centration in the ambient air of buffer zone of the study area
was within the prescribed limit of 100 μg m−3 for ­PM10 and
60 μg m−3 for P ­ M2.5. Further, the system is scientifically
designed to work effectively with a minimum number of
tion and automotive and requires no human intervention.
It uses less water using specially designed hybrid nozzles
with frustum and sensors and control units to operate the
system only when the mining or mineral processing plant is
in operation. It requires no chemical for dust suppression and
consequently has no environmental impacts. Hence, the sys-
tem promotes eco-friendly and clean mining by effectively
controlling air pollution.
There is a scope for future innovation, like the addition
of an automatic alarm system for nozzle maintenance, and
the application of artificial intelligence for deciding nozzle
numbers based on the dust concentration in the air, produc-
tion quantity, wind speed, and belt conveyor speed.
Acknowledgements  The authors are grateful to Dr. Pradeep K. Singh,
Director, CSIR-Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, Dhan-
bad, India, to share his ideas about the developed system and give per-
mission to publish the paper. The authors are thankful to Control Sys-
tems and Solutions, Kolkata, India, for becoming an implementation

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partner for the developed system. The authors are also indebted to the
National Mineral Development Corporation, India, to install the devel-
oped system in one of their crushing and screening plants.
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