Abstract
Nutrien has developed a new novel sampling train for measurement of respirable particulate and respirable crystalline silica in underground Potash mines. Over the past decade Potash mines have been seeking to accurately measure respirable crystalline silica. Challenges have been encountered with the variety of sampling trains currently on the market for sampling respirable dust and respirable crystalline silica. The novel design focused on solving the challenges of overloading filters and impaction substrates encountered with previous sampling trains used underground. The new Berley sampling train uses a combination of a parallel particle impactor and cyclone already on the market with a Nutrien designed transition piece. The performance of the Berley sampling train was validated following British Standards Institution procedures in BS EN 13205 using an environmental chamber in a lab setting. The validation process confirmed flow rates required to ensure collection on the filter has a D50 of 4 micron and follows the international standard for respirable dust.