Study of Fractional and Component Composition of High-Dispersed Dust Particles in Air of the Work Area of an Aluminum Smelter

Abstract

The physicochemical properties of high-dispersed dust in the work area of an aluminum smelter have been studied by electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis. It is shown that dust suspended in air is a complex heterogeneous mixture of chemically diverse crystalline and spherical-shaped, individual or agglomerated, fine and nanostructured particles. It is established that aerosol mixtures contain up to 95% of the fraction of up to 10 μm in size and up to 46.2% of the fraction of less than 0.5 μm, which occur predominantly in the work areas of crane operators and crane maintainers. The typical major dust components are fluorine, carbon, aluminum, sodium, oxygen, silicon, iron, sulfur, chromium, and nickel.