Background

Background

Background

Background

Background

Background

Any stone quarry operation is accompanied by the emission into the air of large quantities of suspended matter created during the grinding and screening process. The dust created not only harms the working conditions of a quarry, such as damaging the quarry’s mechanical and electrical systems, but also harms air quality not only in the quarry itself, but also in areas close to it. In the case of the Amiad quarry, due to the westerly winds towards the Sea of ​​Galilee at certain times of the day, there was a negative impact on air pollution in the town of Kahal, which is located about 2 km southeast of it.

The town has an environmental air monitoring station that checks air pollution. In the event that the monitoring results are higher than the norm, the Ministry of Environmental Protection closes the quarry for a few hours and the quarry stops emitting dust, but also stops producing.

Project Objective

To reduce airborne dust emissions generated during quarry operations below environmental requirements.

Project Implementation

According to dust emission tests from various facilities in the quarry, it was decided to treat emission areas by installing water misting nozzles of different types and different flow rates depending on the amount of emissions, but also taking into account the moisture content of the material, in order to prevent the impact on the screening and grinding process in the quarry. The project also emphasizes the ability to control by the quarry team over each suppression zone, to allow for control of the dust suppression system’s operation depending on weather changes and material quality.

Project Results

After the system was installed, quarry work stoppages due to airborne dust emissions were completely eliminated, eliminating idle hours and saving enormous money.