DusTreat Control Treatment Programs

Used in mining, power and steel industries, GE's DusTreat Control Treatment Programs are specifically formulated to control fugitive dust from unpaved plant and mine ramps and haul roads.

Environmental Benefit

GE's DusTreat Control Treatment Programs featuring DusTreat DC9112 and DusTreat DC9138 reduce water usage, while improving dust control effectiveness and increasing visibility on the roads. DusTreat reduces water truck usage, thus reducing CO2 emissions from diesel fuel combustion.

Operating Benefit

Using GE's DusTreat Control Treatment Programs can improve customer's overall operating performance by saving on water, truck and grading usage.

The environmental challenge

Unpaved industrial roads and mine ramp and haul roads produce excessive dust causing many health and safety hazards for employees and residents using the roads. GE sought to treat unpaved roads with a dust palliative with less environmental impact.

GE’s innovative solution

GE created the DusTreat Control Treatment Programs featuring DusTreat DC9112 and DusTreat DC9138. DusTreat DC9112 is GE's organic binder, which has been used successfully for five years in controlling dust. DusTreat DC9138 is GE's blend of wetting materials specially formulated to enhance the dust suppression capabilities of water. GE's DusTreat Control Treatment Programs effectively suppress dust while reducing the water requirement needed in alternate systems.

Environmental impact

At one large gold mine in Nevada, switching to the DusTreat DC9112 Program from a magnesium chloride treatment on seven miles of haul roads reduced water use for dust suppression by 90 percent or 110 million gallons of water per year, or as much as used by 877 average U.S. households in a year. Using this example, water truck operating costs were reduced by $378,000 per year.

The reduced water truck operation avoided the emission of 491 metric tons of CO2 emissions per year or the equivalent of removing 89 passenger vehicles from U.S. roads for a year.

Cutting costs

GE's DusTreat Control Treatment programs can reduce the operational cost of watering for dust suppression at mines.

At one large gold mine in Nevada, switching to the DusTreat DC9112 Program from a water-only treatment on 7.5 miles of access roads reduced water use for dust suppression by 90 percent and reduced water truck operating costs by $121,800 per year.