The Effect of Ventilation on Spontaneous Heating of Coal

Details

• Personal Author:
  Smith, Alex C. ; Yuan L
• Description:
  Ventilation plays an important role in the spontaneous heating of coal in an underground coal mine. If the ventilation rate is too high, heat is carried away by convection. If the ventilation rate is too low, the reaction rate becomes oxygen-limited. The effect of ventilation on the spontaneous heating of coal was investigated in an isothermal oven in this study. Experiments were conducted on three U.S. coal samples with ventilation rates ranging from 100 to 500 cm3/min. Experiments under ventilation were conducted to determine the critical ambient temperature, which is the minimum oven temperature required for a coal sample to achieve thermal runaway. Spontaneous heating tests were then conducted at various ventilation rates at the critical ambient temperature and the results were compared with spontaneous heating tests without ventilation. It was found that there is an optimum ventilation flow to produce the maximum rate of temperature rise at the critical ambient temperature. When the coal sample particle size was increased, a higher critical ambient temperature was required. The results in this study have application in the prevention of spontaneous combustion in underground coal mines. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Coal Coal Mining Engineering Mining Noise Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Air-flow Air-temperature Author Keywords: Spontaneous Heating Coal-mining Coal-processing Coal Properties Combustibility Combustible-materials Fire-hazards Fire-prevention Heat-conduction Heat-production Mine-fires Mining-industry Spontaneous-combustion Temperature-control Temperature-effects Thermal-properties Thermal-reactions Underground-mining Underground Coal Mines Ventilation Ventilation-systems

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• Series:
  Mining Publications
• ISSN:
  0950-4230
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OMSHR - Office of Mine Safety and Health Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  131-137
• Volume:
  25
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20040041
• Citation:
  J Loss Prev Process Ind 2012 Jan; 25(1):131-137
• Contact Point Address:
  Liming Yuan, Office of Mine Safety and Health Research, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, P.O. Box 18070, Cochrans Mill Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15236, USA
• Email:
  Lcy6@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2012
• NORA Priority Area:
  Mining
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:45bbad38d8d171c360e2de29f43b0f1009af1538733e06e901d7013c43e865caa4f9e05d7b12c0735efe890877e5e0c91ff0a54df5a618f7d2eb75ce7c7d40fb
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/227391/cdc_227391_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.66 MB ]