The 4th International Symposium on Mine Safety Science and Engineering (ISMSSE2018)

297 / 2018-05-01 22:39:22

Experimental and numerical investigation on characteristics of oxygen entrainment in loose coal containing a heat source

Coal spontaneous combustion, airflow behavior, loose coal, heat source

Mine Dynamics Disaster > goaf

In China, more than 90% of coal fires are caused by coal seam spontaneous combustion and has posed a great threat to the safety production of coal mining. A comprehensive understanding the dynamic behavior and factors of oxygen transportation in loose coal is a prerequisite for prevention of coal spontaneous combustion. To achieve this aim, an apparatus of oxygen entrainment in loose coal with a heat source was developed, a two-dimensional mesh were created based on the actual size of the apparatus, several models and specific boundary conditions were applied to investigate the impact of position and temperature of heat source, void distribution of coal on the oxygen transportation and temperature distribution inside the loose coal. Results showed that airflow behavior inside the loose could be better described with Brinkman equation and was in agreement by comparison with the experimental data. Our results, especially for the field of engineering, have substantial effects for preventing and controlling coal spontaneous combustion disasters.