The Application of Aqueous Span 80 Composite Material in Methane Absorption and Explosion Suppression

Abstract

This paper aims to design a sort of aqueous atomization absorbing material which can absorb mine gas under coal mine to decrease the methane concentration and reduce the explosion hazard. The material was composed of water as matrix, Span 80 as methane absorbent, and inorganic salt as additive. Methane the main component of mine gas was used as model of mine gas. The influence of concentration of inorganic salt on absorption and the effect of different compound materials made of Span 80 and inorganic salt on absorption were studied using Head Space Gas Chromatography to determine the content of methane absorbed. Explosion chamber was used as experiment system to simulate mine gas explosion. The explosion suppression effects of absorbing materials were studied preliminarily in explosion chamber using the maximum explosion pressure and residual methane content after explosion as parameters. The results indicate that the absorbing material can absorb more methane than water and can partly inhibit the explosion of the mixture of methane and air.