Coal Topper Dust Control Formulation, System and Method

A method for reducing coal dust emissions from an exposed surface of coal during transport comprising:

• selecting a target application viscosity of a coal topper formulation for the coal, the coal topper formulation containing a polymer at a concentration;
• identifying a level of depolymerization for the polymer sufficient to achieve the target application viscosity of the coal topper formulation;
• mixing an amount of the selected polymer depolymerized to the level of depolymerization with water to obtain a depolymerized polymer solution;
• and
• applying the depolymerized polymer solution to the exposed surface of coal as a coal topper formulation at about the target application viscosity.

A method for reducing dust emissions from a railcar containing coal, the method comprising:

• creating a mixture of:
• water;
• a first amount of depolymerized polymer;
• a second amount of plasticizer;
• and
• a third amount of crosslinker.
• applying the mixture to coal contained in the railcar when the mixture has a target application viscosity of between about 40 to 140 cps.