Real-time dust tracker reduces health risk

Research confirming the effectiveness of the Coherent Doppler Lidar system has been published by the Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE).

This type of technology system allows real-time monitoring of dust emissions and wind fields. It can be used at ports and mine sites for routine monitoring, health risk and occupational safety studies, validation of modelling, and evaluation of dust mitigation strategies.

The study was performed in collaboration with Curtin University and the Lidar (short for light detection and ranging, or ‘laser radar’) was trialled in Port Hedland. This area has a history of high dust levels related to the loading of bulk commodities for export and mining activities.

“This information can be used to identify dust emission sources, track dust plumes, provide insight into the way wind transports dust, and determine community exposure,” said project leader John Sutton.

“In short, the system allows better management of contaminant plumes, which in turn helps to reduce impacts on communities.”

According to Sutton, the real-time information helps environmental managers make better decisions, including identifying the location of a plume source and how best to dampen it, as well as the effectiveness of the dampening. This gives industry an objective idea of how well its abatement strategies are working.

“This sort of capability simply isn’t possible with traditional point monitoring, which may gather data from three or four monitoring points,” said Sutton.

“The Lidar system effectively measures thousands of points and, what’s more, it works over a large area of up to 300 km².”

The research has been published by the Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE). The CRC CARE Technical Report 33, ‘Advanced Lidar Port Hedland dust study: Broadscale, real-time dust tracking and measurement’, is available for free download via www.crccare.com/publications/technical-reports.