Application of inhibitors to prevent spontaneous heating of coal

Abstract

The auto oxidation of coal without any external heat source ultimately leads to spontaneous combustion which is the main cause coal mine accidents. It has been a major problem in the leading coal producing countries like China, USA and India. Therefore the assessment of this process is crucial to the mining industry. It depends upon different characteristics and properties of coal. Once the combustion of coal starts, it is very difficult to control the fire. Therefore it is quite essential to assess their degree of proneness so as to take necessary steps against the occurrence of fires in order to avoid loss of lives and property, sterilization of coal reserves and environmental pollution and raise concerns about safety and economic aspects of mining etc.

Twenty coal samples were collected from various coal fields such as MCL, NCL, NEC, BCCL, IISCO, TISCO. The project deals with effect of inhibitors on spontaneous heating liability of coal. The intrinsic properties as well as susceptibility indices of the coal samples were determined by following experimental techniques:
Proximate analysis
Flammability temperature
From the experiments carried out, it is found that, among the three inhibitors used, namely NaCl, EDTA and CaCl2, NaCl is found to be the most effective in reducing the flammability temperature of coal.