Abstract
The most commonly used practice to assess fire hazard development in underground coal mines is based on the measurement of the concentration of selected gases in the mine’s air. The main goal of this study was present a strategy to monitor the gaseous atmosphere in the mine in order to identify the onset of an endogenous fire in the coal seam. For that purpose, the principal component analysis (PCA) and the hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) were applied. The monitoring covers the measurements of concentration of CO, CO2, H2, O2, N2, and selected hydrocarbons, respectively throughout the whole of one year. The chemometric methods applied allow for effective exploration of the similarities between the studied samples collected both under fire hazard conditions and under safe conditions. Based on the constructed models, the groups of objects characterized with the highest content of ethylene, acetylene, propylene, and carbon monoxide were identified. These samples indicate the endogenic fire in coal mine.
Highlights
All over the world, coal constitutes one of the three primary energy sources used for the generation of electricity and commercial heat [1,2]
principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) methods were applied to identify the beginning of endogenous fires in the coal mine
The loading plot PC1 vs. PC2 enables us to explain the differences between objects nos. 12–22, 37, 38, and all the remaining objects resulting from relatively higher concentrations of ethane, ethylene, propane, propylene, acetylene, carbon monoxide, and methane were measured behind the dam at a distance of 20 m
Summary
Coal constitutes one of the three primary energy sources used for the generation of electricity and commercial heat [1,2]. Such a large use of coal is determined by the sufficiency and availability of its resources, the ease and safety of transport, and the low cost of coal-based energy production. The high levels of deep ground stress and ground temperature provide favorable conditions for coal self-heating, thereby increasing the risk of fire. The self-heating process is initiated by the increase of coal temperatures resulting from highly exothermic oxidation reactions during the exposure of coal mass to oxygen from mine air [3,4,5,6]. As far as the chemical method is concerned, it is based on the monitoring of fire gas concentrations and analyzing the changes in air composition
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