Dust management at longwall faces has always been a concern for mine operators. Recent respirable dust monitoring at a longwall top coal caving (LTCC) face indicated that extremely high dust exposure levels have been experienced at the face. Dust contamination from intake ventilation and the incorrect use of ventilation arrangements (i.e. curtains) at maingate (MG) area were identified as the main cause of this issue. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling studies were therefore conducted to investigate the impact of different ventilation arrangements on the dispersion behaviour of respirable dust at the LTCC face, with a special focus on the airflow patterns and the aerodynamics of fugitive dust at the intersection of MG and face. Field investigation was first carried out to observe the dust issue and obtain essential data for the development and validation of base model. Then parametric studies were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of two different curtain configurations at MG considering the worst scenario of intake dust contamination to face (dust from travel road and beam stage loader (BSL) discharge point flows towards face) with the shearer cutting into the MG. Model results demonstrate that the occurrence of flow separation and incorrect use of curtains account for the main reasons of high dust exposure level at the intersection of MG and face, especially when the shearer is cutting into the MG. Ventilation arrangements at the MG and face entry are critical to minimise the impact of flow separation on the dust flow patterns at the intersection. Based on model results, new ventilation arrangements at the MG and face entry have been proposed and evaluated through which significant dust mitigation effect can be achieved at face entry, contributing to the overall reduction of dust exposure levels along the face. (C) 2018 The Society of Powder Technology Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. and The Society of Powder Technology Japan. All rights reserved.