Determination and Fire Analysis of Gob Characteristics Using CFD

Florencio Fernández-Alaiz,Antonio Bernardo-Sánchez,Fernando Gómez-Fernández,Marc Bascompta,Ana Maria Castañón

doi:10.3390/en13205274

Abstract

A laboratory-scale analysis using coal from an underground mine was carried out, emulating a mixture from the gob area in an actual mine, consisting of waste, coal, and free space for the flow of air. Experimental tests and computational fluid dynamics modelling were done to define and verify the behavior of the collapsed region in a time-dependent analysis. In addition, the characteristics of coal were defined, regarding the self-combustion, combustion rate, and pollutants generated in each stage of the fire. The results achieved are useful for determining the behavior of the collapsed area in full-scale conditions and to provide valuable information to study different scenarios of a potential fire in a real sublevel coal mine regarding how the heat is spread in the gob and how pollutants are generated.

Highlights

The proper management of risk in underground mining, especially coal, is critical to avoid undesirable situations that could lead to tragic accidents, such as fires or explosions [1,2].Many preventive and corrective measures have been proposed and developed over time [3], but there are still important fatalities in these types of activities [4]
The aim of this study is to provide a deep understanding of the characteristics of coal regarding heating and combustion behavior in the gob area, in addition to knowing how flames spread by means of a Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model
An procedurehashas been established to analyze the collapsed in an coal mine using a sublevel method reproduced at a laboratory scale, using a mixture of coal, waste, underground coal mine using a sublevel method reproduced at a laboratory scale, using a mixture of and air space where air leakages flow

Summary

Introduction

The proper management of risk in underground mining, especially coal, is critical to avoid undesirable situations that could lead to tragic accidents, such as fires or explosions [1,2].Many preventive and corrective measures have been proposed and developed over time [3], but there are still important fatalities in these types of activities [4]. The proper management of risk in underground mining, especially coal, is critical to avoid undesirable situations that could lead to tragic accidents, such as fires or explosions [1,2]. Fires in coal mines depend on the intrinsic characteristics, either thermal or physical, of the available fuel sources (coal, wooden supports, and equipment, among others); the ventilation system implemented [5]; the size of the drifts and openings [6,7]; and the operational conditions [8]. The temperature of the air flowing through the working faces must be kept as low as possible, especially in deep coal mines. High workplace temperatures can have an important influence on potential fires. Zhu et al [10] expose an interesting approach to predict the temperature

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Conclusion