Reduction of the environmental impact of coal storage piles: A wind tunnel study

This paper presents an application of scale model wind tunnel tests to reduce the environmental pollution provoked by fugitive dust from coal storage piles. The effectiveness of different types of wind breaks, shelter belts and coating chemicals has been tested under different wind speeds and pile layouts. Most of the results presented in this paper are of general significance and demonstrate the usefulness of comparative simulations in reducing real pollution impact problems. The best reductions in dust deposition (up to 85%) have been assured by using chemical additives spread over the pile surface, whose coating action remained nearly unvaried up to 5 days or more, and wind breaks provided with suitable baffles for wind deviation