ABSTRACT
During the past twenty years, since the advent of remote controlled continuous miners and deep cut (extended advance) for room and pillar mining operations (Wellman, 1981), the safety and productivity of mining operations has increased significantly. However, this high production presents environmental problems in that, per unit time, more dust is generated and higher levels of methane are liberated at the face during coal extraction. These conditions require the supply of more air into the face of the excavated entry for safe dilution. One of the ventilation techniques being used in conjunction with this modern mining method (Goodman et al., 1990) is the blowing curtain in conjunction with a machine-mounted dust scrubber. Implementation of this technique has a significant influence on the airflow patterns in the entry working area and the design of their air handling capacities.
