Design and investigation of a dual y-type filtration system using pneumatic power for mining dust: particulate removal characteristics and performance evaluation

Traditional wet filtration dust collectors (WFDC) in high gas coal mines face significant limitations, including explosion risks from electrical power sources and high filtration resistance in conventional parallel-net structures. To address these challenges, this study introduces an innovative intrinsically safe solution: a pneumatically powered WFDC featuring a unique dual-Y-type filter geometry. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were integrated with a custom-built experimental platform to comprehensively examine the coupled effects of filter net density, spray pressure, and filtration velocity on performance. Unlike standard parallel filters, simulation results demonstrate that the dual-Y configuration generates a pronounced wake turbulence zone, extending dust particle residence time, enhancing collision probability, and substantially reducing aerodynamic resistance by up to 28 Pa at 5 m/s. Experimental optimization revealed a positive correlation between dust removal efficiency and both net density and spray pressure. Under optimal parameters: 60-mesh net density, 0.6 MPa spray pressure, and 5 m/s filtration velocity, the device achieves a peak dust removal efficiency of 98.2 % for bituminous coal, with a quality factor of 0.0237 Pa −1 . Furthermore, the study quantifies the influence of coal rank and runtime, showing that increased hydrophobicity and prolonged operation cause a slight efficiency decline, which is fully recoverable via brief spray cleaning. These findings provide a theoretical framework and practical engineering guidance for achieving safe and highly efficient dust control in hazardous mining environments, while offering quantitative criteria for the selection and optimization of WFDCs under diverse operational conditions.