Work

Diesel exhaust particles from underground coal mining: Breathing-zone-to-lung transport, regional dosimetry, and deposition hotspots

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Diesel exhaust particles (DEPs) pose a major inhalation hazard in underground coal mines, but their transport and regional deposition in the respiratory tract remain poorly resolved. Using an anatomically detailed respiratory tract coupled with breathing zone model (CM1) as the comparative baseline, we combined three respiratory models of varying anatomical completeness with three particle release strategies to define six Eulerian–Lagrangian tracking scenarios (M1–M6). Particles from 1 nm to 10 μm were simulated at inspiratory flow rates of 15–90 L/min. DEPs of 500 nm showed the greatest distal penetration, reaching 62.7% at 30 L/min. Lower respiratory tract (LRT) deposition decreased for 10 nm DEPs from 43.84% to 32.70% but increased for 1 μm DEPs from 27.59% to 45.49% as flow increased. Model completeness and release strategy strongly influenced deposition estimates. The LRT only configuration (M6) underestimated 1 nm DEP deposition by 88.36% and overestimated deposition of submicron DEPs by up to 59.15%. A new strategy (M7) reproduced total and regional deposition within 8% and 15% of CM1, respectively, while reducing tracking time by more than 20-fold. These findings provide an efficient framework for DEPs exposure assessment and underscore the need to represent the breathing zone and upstream airways.

Source: Process Safety and Environmental Protection

DOI: 10.1016/j.psep.2026.109795