Rotational and translation-free polishing of granite: surface quality and dust particles emission and dispersion

Reducing workers' exposure to crystalline silica dust is currently a major challenge for granite manufacturing industries. In North America, occupational health regulations are becoming increasingly severe and demanding with respect to quartz dust particle exposure among workers. Of all granite transformation processes, dust control during polishing is the most difficult to realize. During the process, the rotary motion of the tool influences the dust particles, making it harder to capture them. This paper aims to investigate the surface quality, as well as fine particles (FP) and ultrafine particles (UFP) emission and dispersion during dry, rotational and translation-free granite polishing. This research was intended to gather data that could be used to validate dust dispersion simulation results when polishing granite. It was found that workers remain exposed to high concentrations of FP and UFP during this polishing process. In addition, dust particles were found to uniformly contaminate the workspace.