UAV-Guided Targeted Fog-Cannon Dust Suppression for Open-Pit Mine Blasting: CFD-Informed Design and Field Evaluation

Blast dust in open-pit mines can diverge from mist coverage when fog-cannon settings rely on ground-level observations. This study evaluated a UAV-guided workflow combining three-dimensional meteorological sensing, blasting-parameter mapping, transient CFD, and pre-blast configuration checks. Analysis of historical cases identified source–coverage and wind-field mismatches. The workflow was applied at the Haerwusu Open-Pit Coal Mine. Despite near-calm ground conditions, UAV profiles showed west-to-east flow strengthening from 4.24 m s−1 at 25 m to 6.51 m s−1 at 100 m. Under the archived numerical settings, the CFD design case produced a model-dependent early-plume geometric envelope extending to approximately 17 m, assuming monodisperse 100 μm particles, a uniform 5 m s−1 inlet, and the stored source and solver settings. This envelope was used as a site-specific geometric reference for an 18 m operational coverage target and downwind deployment; field commissioning set the elevation angle at approximately 34° and the horizontal sweep at ±2°. CIELab image-based regional contrasts were 88.36%, 79.09%, and 70.66% at 10, 15, and 20 s, declining to 42.03% at 25 s. UAV PM10 regional contrasts exceeded 86% over retained samples 11–35 and declined to 49.61% over retained samples 36–50. Together, the observations indicated early-to-middle plume–mist alignment followed by late breakthrough. For the investigated field event, the workflow linked elevated wind observations and a short-time CFD design case to site-specific fog-cannon configuration.