Wet Dust Suppression

Water Suppression

While the sprinklers are not on at the moment of the photograph, large amounts of standing water are visible at the Dominion Terminal.

Coal dust emissions are primarily managed using wet suppression methods that consist of spraying water over coal storage piles, rail cars, and transloading equipment using a system of sprinklers. Water application is often adjusted based on terminal activity and the ambient humidity conditions.

Water suppression is mentioned in the record as early as the 1920s, when the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Railroad Company installed a custom pipe system to wet coal-filled railcars where and when the cars were emptied through overturning in Southeast Newport News.

Documents

• Railroads of Port Adopt Coal Sprinkle: Growing demand for Sprinkled Coal Said to Be Made by Trans-Shippers, Daily Press, November 23, 1927