Experimental investigation on the macroscopic characteristic parameters of coal spontaneous combustion under adiabatic oxidation conditions with a mini combustion furnace

ABSTRACT

Research on macroscopic characteristic parameters of coal spontaneous combustion under adiabatic oxidation conditions helps in the early detection of self-ignition of coal oxidation even coal fires. To achieve this aim, a mini combustion furnace for studying self-ignition of coal was designed and constructed. The coal sample came from Huang Lin coal mine, Shaanxi province, China. Then, the variations in temperature, gas ratios, oxygen consumption rate, heat intensity, and limit parameters were studied. Results show that during the process of coal oxidation, coal temperature and gas concentrations inside the furnace vary with the change of time, air leakage intensity, and heat dissipation condition. The variation trends of macroscopic characteristic parameters during the entire process of coal spontaneous combustion in a certain range of temperature under various oxygen concentrations can be applied for temperature prediction and fire prevention of coal.

KEY WORDS:

• Coal spontaneous combustion index
• Heat release intensity
• Limit parameters
• Macroscopic characteristic parameters
• Oxygen consumption rate

Highlights

• A mini combustion furnace for studying the macroscopic characteristic parameters of coal spontaneous combustion under adiabatic oxidation condition was designed and constructed.

• Characteristics of coal spontaneous combustion under adiabatic oxidation condition were studied.

• Quantitative calculation method of oxygen consumption rate, temperature change, and heat release intensity was created.

• Corresponding relationship between gas ratios and coal temperature was established.

• Some limit parameters of coal spontaneous combustion and their variation laws were elucidated.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation: [Grant Numbers 51504190 and 51604218], the National Key R&D Program of China: [Grant Number 2016YFC0800100], the General Program of National Natural Science Foundation: [Grant Numbers 51674191, 51674193], the Scientific Research Program Funded by Shaanxi Provincial Education Department: [Grant Number 2013JK0947], the International Science and Technology Cooperation and Exchange of Shaanxi Province: [Grant Number 2016KW-070].