Proof Engineers Introduces Dustective

The new Dustective system is used to measure dust control efficiency (DCE), providing mine sites with quantifiable data to demonstrate compliance with strict industry air quality regulations.

The effectiveness of dust suppression products can also be assessed by the system by comparing dust emissions over time after watering on treated and untreated road surfaces.

The Dustective unit is fully portable and can be installed to any dust emitting location, allowing the mine operations management to monitor fugitive dust emissions from sources such as haul trucks, rail wagons, stockpiles and more, the company said.

The device monitors suspended particulates generated from mechanical tyre action, which contribute to over 80% of dust particles that typically reach a site's boundary.

The system can provide full site mapping, showing dust emissions in a colour scale format indicating different levels of dust severity and bringing maintenance locationsto the attention of the mining operations management.

According to Proof Engineers, this allows for efficient allocation of water carts, which can reduce dust suppressive treatment, control and overwatering.

The reduction of overwatering results in less damage to roads and a decreased need for grading and road surfacing material, helping mine operators to achieve operational costs savings.

Proof Engineers' civil engineer Jordan Handel stated that the Dustective system was created in response to the consistent industry demand for new ways to optimise haul road dust control and mining operations.

"The Dustective is a compact, robust system designed to cope with demanding mine site conditions," he said.

"The monitor is fully mobile, can be fitted to nearly any specified dust-emitting location, and incorporates light-scattering technology solely measuring PM10 density, the industry standard for dust auditing in mining operations.

"The Dustective can obtain the PM10 concentration, GPS location, vehicle speed and high-definition images, with raw data from the Dustective and GPS sent via the 3G network to the Proof Platform where it is automatically analysed and displayed.

"Once the system is operational, the Proof Platform can be easily accessed via the web using a password-protected log-in system. The entire Dustective system is user-friendly, non-invasive, requires minimal training and can be rolled out on site with minimal effort."