Environmental Technology & Innovation 4 (2015) 137–149 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Environmental Technology & Innovation journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/eti Dispersion of respirable particles from the workplace in opencast iron ore mines Sneha Gautam, Basanta Kumar Prusty, Aditya Kumar Patra * Department of Mining Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur- 721302, India graphical abstract highlights • Up to 17 min of particle travel time is estimated for source up to 9–10 m. • Up to 13 min of particle retention time is estimated. • 7%–40% of the particle retained at the workplace during the retention time. • Within a horizon of 18–20 m, up to 73% PM 2.5-10 , 63% PM 1-2.5 , and 15% PM 1 settle. • Empirical equation for the downward movement of PM from the source is developed. article info Article history: Received 10 February 2015 Received in revised form 12 May 2015 Accepted 19 June 2015 Available online 22 June 2015 abstract Earlier studies on dispersion of Particulate Matter (PM) in opencast mines primarily focused on estimation of source strength of each mining operation and dispersion of the pollutants away from mines. No study has focused on estimation of particle travel from the workplace with respect to time since its emission, enhanced concentration at workplace during as well * Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 3222 283726; fax: +91 3222282282x282700. E-mail address: patrakaditya@gmail.com (A.K. Patra). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eti.2015.06.002 2352-1864/© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.