Study on the Reoxidation Characteristics of Soaked and Air-Dried Coal

After coal seam mining, the residual coal is soaked with the accumulated water in goaf, and its spontaneous combustion characteristics were changed after air-dried. To study the reoxidation characteristics of soaked and air-dried coal, temperature-programmed experiments were carried out, and the cross point temperatures and index gases were investigated. Results showed that the cross point temperature of raw coal (146.3 °C) was reduced to 137.1 °C after it was pre-oxidized at 90 °C. The cross point temperature of water-soaked, and air-dried coal (96 h) was 122.5 °C, while the cross point temperature of water-soaked, air-dried (96 h) and pre-oxidized (90 °C) coal was 111.5 °C. Although CO was produced in the initial slow oxidation phase, it was found that C2H4 and C3H8 were not generated. In the rapid oxidation stage, different pretreatments affected the gas generation and the overall oxidative degree was consistent with the cross point temperature. The generation temperature and the concentration of C2H4 and C3H8 were decreased after the coal was water-soaked, air-dried, and pre-oxidized. Furthermore, the high-energy chemicals and functional groups were studied, which could be used to explain the physical experiment oxidation characteristics of different coals.

Analysis of Index Gases of Coal Spontaneous Combustion Using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer

Analysis of the index gases of coal for the prevention of spontaneous combustion is of great importance for the enhancement of coal mine safety. In this work, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIRS) is presented to be used to analyze the index gases of coal in real time to monitor spontaneous combustion conditions. Both the instrument parameters and the analysis method are introduced at first by combining characteristics of the absorption spectra of the target analyte with the analysis requirements. Next, more than ten sets of the gas mixture containing ten components (CH4, C2H6, C3H8,iso-C4H10,n-C4H10, C2H4, C3H6, C2H2, CO, and CO2) are included and analyzed with aSpectrum TwoFTIRS made by Perkin Elmer. The testing results show that the detection limit of most analytes is less than2×10-6. All the detection limits meet the monitoring requirements of coal spontaneous combustion in China, which means that FTIRS may be an ideal instrument and the analysis method used in this paper is sufficient for spontaneous combustion gas monitoring on-line and even in situ, since FTIRS has many advantages such as fast analysis, being maintenance-free, and good safety.