Effect of Longwall Face Advance on Spontaneous Heating in Longwall Gob Area

Details

• Personal Author:
  Smith, Alex C. ; Yuan L
• Description:
  To reduce fire hazards from spontaneous combustion of coal in longwall gob areas, a series of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were conducted by National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to model the spontaneous heating of coal in longwall gob areas. The previous modeling results demonstrate that spontaneous heating of coal usually occurred behind the longwall shields and along the face with a bleeder ventilation system. Assuming a stationary longwall face, the spontaneous heating could turn to a spontaneous fire in several days for the most reactive coal under favorable conditions. When the longwall face advances, the spontaneous heating process will be significantly affected. In this study, the effect of longwall face advance on the spontaneous heating in the gob area is investigated using the CFD model developed in previous studies. One longwall panel with a bleeder ventilation system is simulated. The width of the panel is 300 m, while the length of the panel is changed between 1,000 to 2,000 m. The same permeability and porosity profiles are used for gobs with different lengths. The spontaneous heating first develops in the gob when the longwall face is stationary. Then, the face advances at a certain rate. The face advance is simulated as a series of discrete movements, and the effect of the face advance on the maximum temperature developed during the face stoppage is examined. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Movements Emergencies Mining Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Coal-mining Fire-prevention Longwall-mining Mine-fires Mining-industry Models Spontaneous-combustion Underground-mining
• Series:
  Mining Publications
• Publisher:
  Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc.
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 8 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  PRL - Pittsburgh Research Laboratory
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20035075
• Citation:
  2009 SME Annual Meeting and Exhibit, February 22-25, Denver, Colorado, Preprint 09-053. Littleton, CO: Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc., 2009 Feb; :1-5
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2009
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  2009 SME Annual Meeting and Exhibit, February 22-25, Denver, Colorado, Preprint 09-053
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:85d9d04ab5c2e0da682b8456fc2f10e017c1380c930bf397be3c18c92e2e7ef7700c15266ab0b30691ab211435418c98f5433dda26a6a016aadfe4933f0b8f64
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/227071/cdc_227071_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 155.56 KB ]