Coal Mine Dust Size Distributions, Chemical Compositions, and Source Apportionment
, Lung-Wen Antony Chen 3, Judith C. Chow 1 and John G. Watson 1Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsComments and Suggestions for Authors
Manuscript ID: minerals-3264982
Title: Coal Mine Dust Size Distributions, Chemical Compositions, and Source Apportionment
Authors: Xiaoliang Wang, Behrooz Abbasi, Mohammadreza Elahifard, Bankole Osho, L.-W. Antony Chen, Judith C.Chow, and John G. Watson
This manuscript is of high scientific and practical value as it provides a systematic study of the particle size and chemical composition of dust at key locations in underground coal mines, as well as source apportionment work in light of potential sources of material. Although there are still some issues with the current manuscript, after careful review it is considered acceptable with minor revisions. Specific comments and suggestions are given below:
l Limit the number of keywords to 5 or less
l Line 274-275, The RCMD from the WV mine contains high contents of calcium and carbonate, which the authors attribute to the use of different methods of rock dust application. Since the coal or rock samples from the roof, gangue, and floor contain varying amounts of carbonate minerals (calcite, dolomite, ankerite, etc.), could this have been the source of the varying levels of calcium and carbonate? What methods did the authors use to distinguish between geological genesis and calcium/carbonate used for dust suppression?
l Figure 6, Why does the mass percentage exceed 100%?
l Line 354-356, In fact, NO3- and SO42- are also high in the intake source, so how can this be used to distinguish it from other sources?
l Figure 8，The contribution of the intake air source in the continuous miner is very high, and the contribution of the coal source is hardly seen, which seems to deviate from the actual situation. The continuous miner is mainly used for coal extraction, and the process of coal extraction produces a large amount of coal dust, and shouldn't it be the coal source that dominates in this position?
The same applies to bolter, coal feeders and conveyor belts.
In addition, the authors should give a detailed illustration (or at least a schematic) of these sampling locations to make it easier to understand the distribution of these locations underground.
Author Response
Please see attached Response to Reviewer 1.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe introduction sections should identify the research gaps identified by the study and their importance. It should also discuss which research gaps were studied in the present study. There are a number of studies dealing with size distributions, chemical compositions, and source apportionment, especially for the samples collected from the underground mines; the reason for this study being required should be discussed in the introduction section.
Author Response
Please see attached Response to Reviewer 2.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
