Statistical Modeling of Spontaneous Coal Combustion Due to the Effect of the Sun’s Rays

Abstract

Spontaneous combustion occurs in stockpiles in coal managements and causes interruptions in production and economical and environmental problems. This work was performed on an industrial-scale stockpile formed with +18-mm clean coal. The temperature changes of the stockpile exposed to sun’s rays were measured. Concurrently, the values of solar intensity, air temperature, air pressure, air humidity, wind speed, and wind direction affecting the stockpile were measured continuously. A statistical model to predict spontaneous combustion was developed by multi-nonlinear-regression analyses. The correlation coefficients were calculated around 0.95 levels. With this model, the effects of atmospheric conditions on spontaneous combustion of coal stockpiles can be predicted.