The coal shed is an enclosed space where raw coal is stored and handled. The intensive operation of the machinery inside the coal shed generates a large amount of dust, and the wind speed inside the enclosed space easily leads to a high concentration of dust, which endangers the physical and mental health of the workers. In this paper, we first studied the particle size distribution of dust samples in the coal shed and found that 12.2% of the dust in the air of the coal shed was 10–100 μm, 87.8% was less than 10 μm, and 72.9% was less than 2.5 μm. Fluent was used to simulate the law of dust dispersion in the coal shed under different working conditions, and finally, the simulation results were used to guide the design of the ventilation site and dust-reduction scenario. The experimental and simulation results show that under the same working conditions, the average dust reduction efficiency of the ventilation method in which the north side and south side pump air outside was 9.9%. The ventilation method in which the north side blows inside and the south side pumps outside was 23.7%. The average dust reduction efficiency of the ventilation method in which the north side blows inside and the south side pumps outside + placing the fan in the middle was 59.9%. The research results can provide some reference value for indoor air quality improvement.

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.