Why Use Mist Cannon Machines in Mine Crushing?

Why Use Mist Cannon Machines in Mine Crushing?

During mine crushing operations, ores are repeatedly squeezed and impacted by jaw crushers and cone crushers, generating a large amount of dust with a diameter of less than 10 microns. This dust not only fills areas such as crushing workshops and conveyor corridors but also spreads to the surrounding environment with air currents, becoming an “invisible threat” endangering workers’ health, equipment service life, and ecological safety. However, the mist cannon machine, with its characteristics of precise dust control and adaptability to complex working conditions, has become an indispensable “dust-proof guardian” in the mine crushing process, fundamentally resolving multiple problems caused by dust.​

Core Value 1: Block Dust Invasion and Safeguard Workers’ Health Baseline​

The dust in mine crushing areas contains harmful substances such as silicon and heavy metals. Long-term inhalation can lead to irreversible occupational diseases like pneumoconiosis. Traditional passive protection methods such as dust masks and protective clothing cannot completely isolate suspended dust. The mist cannon machine converts water into mist particles of 50-150 microns through high-pressure atomization technology. These mist particles can accurately collide with and adsorb dust particles, forming denser “dust-water mist” aggregates that quickly settle to the ground, reducing the dust concentration in the air from the source.​

Take a copper mine crushing workshop in Yunnan as an example. Before using the mist cannon machine, the dust concentration in the workshop was as high as 280mg/m³, far exceeding the national safety standard of 10mg/m³. Workers had to replace their dust masks every hour. After introducing 3 targeted mist cannon machines, “circular mist curtains” were set up at the feed and discharge ports of the crusher, and “strip mist screens” were formed above the conveyor belts. The dust concentration in the workshop stabilized at 8mg/m³, and workers only needed to replace their masks once a day, with complaints about respiratory discomfort dropping by 90%.​

Core Value 2: Reduce Dust Abrasion and Extend Equipment Service Life

Precision components of mine crushing equipment, such as crusher bearings, conveyor rollers, and motor heat dissipation ports, will suffer accelerated wear and blocked heat dissipation channels once invaded by dust, leading to frequent equipment failures. An iron mine once had to shut down for 2-3 times a month to clean the internal dust of the equipment due to dust accumulation in the crushing area. Each maintenance cost exceeded 50,000 yuan, and production progress was also affected.​

The mist cannon machine can effectively reduce dust erosion on equipment through real-time dust control. It can be linked to start and stop via intelligent sensors according to the operation rhythm of the crushing equipment: when the crusher starts, the mist cannon machine turns on simultaneously, forming a “dust-proof barrier” around the equipment to prevent dust from adhering to the surface of components; for conveyor idlers that are prone to dust accumulation, the mist cannon machine can also adjust the spray angle to spray fine mist directionally, keeping the idlers clean. After the above-mentioned iron mine introduced the mist cannon machine, the frequency of equipment maintenance dropped to 0.5 times a month, saving more than 400,000 yuan in annual maintenance costs, and the overall service life of the crushing equipment was extended by 3 years.​

Core Value 3: Control Dust Diffusion and Uphold the Red Line of Ecological Environmental Protection​

If mine crushing dust is directly discharged without treatment, it will cause surrounding soil compaction, vegetation withering, and may even pollute water sources due to dust settlement, leading to environmental complaints or even production suspension for rectification. Traditional water sprinkler trucks for dust reduction have problems such as “limited range and easy water accumulation”. Especially in arid areas, water resources are wasted seriously and the dust control effect is short-lived.

The atomized spraying method of the mist cannon machine can achieve large-scale dust control with less water. Its range can reach 20-120 meters, covering an area of 100 meters around the crushing area. By adjusting the size of mist particles, a “suspended dust-proof layer” is formed in the air to slow down the dust diffusion speed; some mines also add environmentally friendly dust suppressants to the mist cannon machine, so that the settled dust forms a solidified layer to avoid secondary dust. An open-pit coal mine in Inner Mongolia arranged 6 mist cannon machines around the crushing area and used them with dust suppressants. The PM10 concentration in the surrounding area dropped from 180μg/m³ to 65μg/m³, meeting the environmental protection emission standards. No complaints from surrounding residents have been received for 2 consecutive years, and it has successfully passed the acceptance of the ecological environment department.​

Dust control in the mine crushing process is not only a rigid demand for ensuring safe production but also an inevitable requirement for practicing green mine construction. The mist cannon machine is not a simple “water sprinkling and dust reduction tool”. Instead, with its characteristics of precise dust control, adaptability to working conditions, and long-term dust suppression, it provides full-chain protection in three dimensions: workers’ health, equipment maintenance, and ecological protection. When the mist curtain slowly unfolds in the mine crushing area, it not only blocks the dust but also serves as a solid guarantee for the sustainable development of the mine, becoming an irreplaceable important equipment in modern mine crushing operations.