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Show COLLEGE OF MINES & EARTH SCIENCES UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS Jake Setter Mark Smith Eunhye Kim 52 DUST AND NOISE HAZARD EXPOSURE: ROOF BOLT BIT COMPARISON Jake Seiter, Mark Smith, (Eunhye Kim) Department of Mining Engineering University of Utah Mining is a m o n g the most hazardous of occupations, and with an increased d e m a n d for coal and minerals, mine safety takes on even greater importance. Roof bolt operators are consistently exposed to high concentrations of noise and respirable dust hazards in underground mining. These hazards are being understood to cause irreversible d a m a g e to the miner's health. The research objective was to determine if a Tungsten Carbide (WC) bit generates more respirable dust and hazardous noise than a Polycrystalline Diamond Cutter (PDC) drill bit, in dry vacuum drilling. Experiments have been conducted in a laboratory situation to control the drill parameters. The results were found by using monitoring equipment and software to assemble the data then comparing the quantities of noise and dust generated by each drill bit. This research includes information on equipment used, experiment setup, drilling parameters, and data collected. Based on the data no conclusive results can be ascertained concerning dust exposer levels, due to inconsistencies outside of experiment design. Nonetheless, there are perceptible trends to suggest that the PDC bits generate less dust than W C bits, however more testing is needed to validate these trends. PDC bits produce on average 2.38 d B A less noise than the W C bits, and attribute to 70.2% less of a Mine Safety and Health Administration-Permissible Exposure Limit (MSHA-PEL) dose. These findings indicate that mineworkers are exposed to less noise w h e n using a P D C drill bit as compared to a W C bit. |