Research on N2-inhibitor-water mist fire prevention and extinguishing technology and equipment in coal mine goaf

PLoS One. 2019 Sep 4;14(9):e0222003. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0222003. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

In this study, a new type of N2-inhibitor-water mist (NIWM) technology was proposed to resolve the problem of fire prevention and extinguishing in the goaf of coal mine. The corresponding equipment was designed and manufactured. Under the condition that both gas pressure and liquid pressure were 0.5-2MPa, the NIWM equipment produced the water mist with Sauter mean diameter (SMD) range of 166-265μm. The experimental results of the operating parameters of NIWM equipment were in agreement with the theoretical derivation. The theory of two-phase flow atomisation can be used as theoretical guide for this technology. After that, on the basis of the NIWM equipment, the experiments of inhibiting low temperature (30-100°C) oxidation and extinguishing high temperature combustion of large dosage of coal sample were carried out. Water mist with SMD = 188μm had good diffusivity in the container. The inhibiting effect of N2-inhibitor-water mist on low temperature oxidation of coal was obviously greater than that of single material. N2-water mist extinguished the burning coal completely in 20 minutes. The addition of water mist solved the shortcoming of poor cooling effect of N2. In different stages of coal-oxygen reaction, N2, inhibitor and water mist play very different role in controlling the process of coal-oxygen reaction, which was not simple accumulation of the three. The combination of N2, inhibitor and water mist should be determined according to the state of the coal mine goaf fire. On the basis of the research conclusions, the onsite arrangement diagram of the NIWM fire prevention and extinguishing equipment in the goaf was designed. The research results proved the feasibility and effectiveness of this technology, and it is of great significance to the prevention and control of coal spontaneous combustion in goaf.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Coal Mining / instrumentation*
  • Fires / prevention & control*
  • Nitrogen / chemistry*
  • Oxidation-Reduction
  • Pressure
  • Spontaneous Combustion
  • Water / chemistry*

Substances

  • Water
  • Nitrogen

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Key Research and Development (R&D) Projects of Shanxi Province (No.201803D31053); Major Technological Research Projects of Shanxi Coking Coal Group Co. LTD. (No.201812xs06); National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.51804212); High-end Foreign Experts’ Intelligence Introduction Project of the State Administration of Foreign Affairs (GDW20181400424); Opening Project of State Key Laboratory of Explosion Science and Technology (Beijing Institute of Technology) (No.KFJJ19-03M).