Comprehensive evaluation on self-ignition risks of coal stockpiles using fuzzy AHP approaches

Self-ignition in coal stockpiles is a serious economic, environmental and safety problem. Evaluation is an effective way to identify the self-ignition hazards in implicit environment of coal piles and provides a guide for countermeasures against spontaneous combustion in coal piles. In this paper, a comprehensive evaluation system is proposed. The trapezoidal and the triangular extent fuzzy AHP methods are employed to handle the imprecision and uncertainty of the effects of factors. A coal stockpile stored at the Bulk Cargo Logistics of Tianjin Port of China and three coal piles in the Teruel basins of Spain are studied to demonstrate the validity of the index system and the effectiveness of fuzzy AHP approaches. The evaluated results indicate that the proposed evaluation system and approaches are valid and objective for evaluating self-ignition risks of coal stockpiles; compared with the trapezoidal fuzzy AHP method, the triangular extent fuzzy AHP approach is more effective to evaluate self-ignition risks of coal piles for the priorities of factors impacting self-ignition risks are highlighted by their weight comparisons' calculation using the triangular extent analysis. The comprehensive evaluation system is beneficial to manage self-ignition risks of coal piles from a holistic point of view and to establish an early warming system of self-ignition risks of coal piles.     

风障联合压实防治煤堆自燃技术工艺参数优化

为提高煤堆自燃的防治效果,降低经济成本和提高施工的灵活性,基于煤堆自燃理论,使用COMSOLMultiphysics 5.0数值仿真软件,建立煤堆自燃模型,研究了煤堆最高温度和自然发火期变化及相关措施实施后最高温度降低规律,对比了单独压实、独立风障和风障联合压实的温度降低量,优化了联合措施的工艺。结果表明,煤堆孔隙率越小,自燃风速范围越宽,最小、最易、最大自燃风速越大;单独进行煤堆压实存在因孔隙率增加而降低的最低不宜风速;针对6 m高煤堆单独使用风障时,只有风障高12 m、距离煤堆25 m才能避免煤堆自燃;风障联合压实措施中,风障高7.5~9 m,设置距离煤堆10~30 m即能保证煤堆不自燃。说明联合的煤堆最高温度降低量更大,且能扩大压实的适用范围,降低风障高度,节约经济成本,增加风障现场施工的灵活性。     

风障联合压实防治煤堆自燃技术工艺参数优化

为提高煤堆自燃的防治效果,降低经济成本和提高施工的灵活性,基于煤堆自燃理论,使用COMSOLMultiphysics 5.0数值仿真软件,建立煤堆自燃模型,研究了煤堆最高温度和自然发火期变化及相关措施实施后最高温度降低规律,对比了单独压实、独立风障和风障联合压实的温度降低量,优化了联合措施的工艺。结果表明,煤堆孔隙率越小,自燃风速范围越宽,最小、最易、最大自燃风速越大;单独进行煤堆压实存在因孔隙率增加而降低的最低不宜风速;针对6 m高煤堆单独使用风障时,只有风障高12 m、距离煤堆25 m才能避免煤堆自燃;风障联合压实措施中,风障高7.5~9 m,设置距离煤堆10~30 m即能保证煤堆不自燃。说明联合的煤堆最高温度降低量更大,且能扩大压实的适用范围,降低风障高度,节约经济成本,增加风障现场施工的灵活性。     

堆积状态下低品质煤临界自燃着火点测定与研究

为了研究低品质煤炭堆积状态下内部自热理论,采用临界自燃着火点理论和Frank-Kamenetskii 模型研究了煤堆内部热产生与热散失平衡理论以及煤堆表面的换热现象;并应用设计研发的煤堆热扩散率及温度监测实验装置和测定方法来评估低品质煤样（褐煤以及亚烟煤）临界自燃温度。结果表明:煤样堆积状态下临界自燃着火点温度可通过实验室内测定分析不同体积网框在不同环境温度条件下自热曲线得出;同体积条件下,临界自燃着火点随着煤品质的升高而增加;在140 ℃ 环境条件下,1#,2# 和3# 煤样在快速升温的前20 min内,温度变化趋势相似;在60~65 ℃,3种煤样出现温度转折点,升温速率开始减缓;根据煤样临界自燃着火点温度结合F-K热发火边界条件理论得出的堆积体积与着火点耦合关系式可预测大体积煤样自燃倾向性及临界自燃温度。     

A study on the influence of liquid water and water vapour on the self-ignition of lignite coal-experiments and numerical simulations

The current paper presents experimental investigations as well as numerical simulations on the influence of water and humidity on the self-ignition of combustible bulk materials.It is well known, that bulk materials may undergo self-ignition if stored under specific conditions. In some cases, large amounts of these materials are exposed to a humid surrounding, e.g. dried coal in a moist atmosphere. Due to the effects of condensation and adsorption of water, additional heat is generated and transported into the bulk material. If the pile is stored slightly below its self-ignition temperature, the bulk material can become supercritical and an ignition occurs.Experiments were carried out for German lignite coal sampled in two different particle size fractions. They showed, that subcritical deposits turned to supercritical behaviour if the relative humidity in the surrounding was suddenly increased or water was poured on the surface of the sample. Besides the experiments, a numerical model was established to describe the effects of self-heating until ignition of the deposit, including the transportation of moisture. Simulations with this model led to satisfying results when compared to the experiments.     

水分对堆积状态褐煤自燃特性影响研究

为研究水分对低阶煤在堆积状态下自然发火特性的影响,基于Frank-Kamenetskii理论,采用开放式恒温加热试验法,分析不同水分含量(4%～23%)白音华褐煤的升温过程及临界自燃着火温度。进一步研究不同煤样粒径(0.5～5 mm)和煤堆体积(1.25～10×10⁵ mm³)条件下,水分对堆积褐煤自燃特性的影响。结果表明,不同水分含量煤堆升温规律基本一致,根据中心点升温速率,可将煤样升温过程划分为4个动态阶段。相同粒径及体积条件下,水分含量越高,煤样临界自燃着火温度越高,抑制升温时间越长,表征内在水分蒸发强度的k值越大;相同水分及体积条件下,k值随粒径的增加呈现先增大后减小的趋势;相同水分及粒径条件下,煤堆体积越大,其临界自燃着火温度越低,水分的蒸发对不同体积煤堆自燃均表现出抑制作用。     

煤炭自燃机理及防治技术分类研究

通过分析国内外学者对煤自燃机理的不同说法,提出了煤自燃过程的3个阶段,即潜伏阶段、自热阶段和自燃阶段,指出煤体要发生自燃必须具备4个条件:具有低温氧化性并以破碎的状态存在,有氧体积分数大于12%的空气连续通过,煤炭氧化所生成热量的速度大于散热的速度,上述3个条件同时存在的时间大于煤炭最短自然发火期等等.根据对煤炭自燃机理的研究,将防治技术措施按其作用机理可分为减漏风供氧、吸热降温和既能隔氧又能降温等3类.对防治煤炭自燃以及选择有效而可靠的技术措施具有积极的指导意义.     

The influence of initial conditions on the propagation of smouldering fires in dust accumulations

A mathematical model is presented which allows one to treat the combined phenomena of heat, mass and species transfer by diffusion as they occur within smouldering fires in accumulations of dust or other solid bulk materials. The model was applied to predict self-ignition temperatures of five different dusts, where it could be shown that computed and experimental self-ignition temperatures coincide within an error margin of ±5%.

For smouldering fires, if initiated by either self-ignition or an ignition source, it could be shown that the temperature and the velocity at which the reaction front propagates both depend on the volume of the dust accumulation. In addition, the propagation velocity increases when the initial temperature of the dust accumulation is increased and decreases when the initial moisture content of the dust accumulation is increased.

Comparisons of the numerical model with experiments show that the smouldering propagation is mirrored qualitatively, while the accuracy of the computations strongly depends on the accuracy of the input parameters, namely on the apparent activation energy.     

多点法测定可燃物质自燃特性的可靠性研究

多点法是一种新提出的自热反应动力学分析方法。采用实验研究和理论分析相结合的方式对多点法的操作过程以及实验结果的可靠性展开研究。通过构建一维导热系统、采用不同形式的热电偶布设方式,对烟叶粉末的自燃临界环境温度、活化能以及反应热与指前因子的乘积等参数进行了测定。研究表明:所构建的一维系统能较好地模拟一维导热;热电偶的分布方式对测量结果有较大影响,对称分布状况下,温度结果与经典的F-K对称模型一致;多点法相比于传统方法省时省力,测定结果有较好的线性拟合相关度,求解的动力学参数较为可靠。     

红外测温法测定硫化矿石堆自热温度的影响因素研究

硫化矿自燃是一个以氧化放热为主、自发产生热量及热量积蓄引起硫化矿堆升温的非常复杂的物理化学过程.因此,研究硫化矿自热过程是研究硫化矿自燃早期预测预报方法的前提.文章以红外非接触方式,利用RaytekminiTemp红外测温仪和CENTER可记录温度计测定硫化矿石堆氧化自热温度,重点分析了测定过程中的实际温度时影响精度的有关因素,主要有矿样种类、矿样温度、矿样块度、检测距离、环境温度、光束与矿样的夹角.通过实验室研究,为研制出专门用于舍硫矿自燃预测预报的装置提供理论依据,从而达到预测预报硫化矿自燃的目的.     

Ignition temperatures of dust layers and bulk storages in hot environments

In many industrial installations, particulate solids (cereals, agri-food products, coal, plants, etc.) are stored or processed. Self-heating of these products, which can lead to fires and explosions, can occur in a variety of situations. Examples include large storage at room temperature, formation of a layer on a hot surface, layer deposited on a surface – insulating or conductive – in a hot environment or even storage of product exposed to heating on one side.The main parameters that determine the occurrence of self-heating are the size of the container, the temperature, the residence time and the characteristics of the product. Depending on the type of situation encountered and these implementation conditions, the analysis of self-heating risks must be based on specific models and/or parameters.This paper presents the different variants and combinations of the theoretical model from the theory of thermal runaway to represent self-heating, taking into account in particular the symmetry or asymmetry of heating, reagent consumption and boundary conditions. It also discusses their adaptation to the previous identified industrial situations.Nine products were chosen to be representative of those used in the different considered industrial situations. They were subjected to self-heating basket tests in isothermal ovens in order to determine the parameters for applying the described theoretical models. These results were compared with the results of self-heating tests in layers of different thicknesses in a hot environment, on an insulating or conductive plate, using a specially developed test protocol, as well as with the results of standardized tests of minimum ignition temperature in 5 mm layers.This led to the proposal of the most appropriate theoretical model to represent the self-heating phenomenon for each of the four identified industrial situations.This analysis can promote better design of industrial equipment and production conditions (temperatures, volumes or product flows …) in order to prevent fires and explosions.     

Investigation of the propensity of sulfide concentrates to spontaneous combustion in storage

Spontaneous combustion of sulfide concentrates can cause many serious problems during storage. In this study, two representative samples (sulfur-rich sulfide concentrate and iron-rich sulfide concentrate) were investigated for the self-heating behavior using the crossing-point temperature (CPT) method. The corresponding apparent activation energies were determined, 13.7366 kJ/mol for iron-rich sulfide concentrate and 21.3817 kJ/mol for sulfur-rich sulfide concentrate. Furthermore, the surface temperatures of sulfide concentrate stockpiles in different seasons were also measured by a thermal image apparatus. It was found the temperature for iron-rich sulfide concentrate stockpile was higher than that for rich-sulfur sulfide concentrate stockpile. These research results show iron-rich sulfide concentrate exhibits stronger propensity to spontaneous combustion than sulfur-rich sulfide concentrate. Particular attention should be paid to the fire hazard of iron-rich sulfide concentrate in daily safety check work. The combination of the CPT method with the infrared thermal image measurement provides a new approach for the risk assessment on the propensity of sulfide concentrates to spontaneous combustion during the production, storage and transportation. The useful data and experience achieved in this investigation can be also referenced in similar cases later.     

煤炭自燃发火危险程度识别研究

对影响煤炭自燃发火危险程度的主要因素进行主观判断，运用逐步聚类分析法，对开采煤层煤炭自燃发火的危险程度进行识别，为判定煤炭自燃发火危险程度提供了一种理论方法     

基于神经网络的煤层自然发火的非线性预测

煤炭自燃是一典型的非线性现象。笔者论述了煤炭自燃的危害 ,从非线性理论的角度分析了煤炭自燃的本质特征 ;应用神经网络中BP网络这一高度非线性关系映射建立了自然发火预测模型 ,克服了传统预测方法的不足并在山东枣庄矿业集团公司柴里煤矿进行了预测分析 ,预测结果与验证结果基本吻合 ,取得了满意的效果 ,为解决煤炭自燃的预测提供了一条良好的思路和方法 ,具有较大的理论意义和应用价值。     

硫化矿石堆自燃预测预报技术

笔者在参考大量有关煤炭自燃理论研究成果的基础上,结合国内外关于硫化矿石氧化自燃的研究现状,对硫化矿石堆自燃的预测预报技术进行系统分析。概述硫化矿石氧化自热的机理;详细介绍硫化矿石的自燃倾向性测试、综合因素评价、统计经验法等预测方法;找出煤炭与硫化矿石堆自燃过程的共性,提出了数学模型模拟预测方法;阐述了标志气体分析和测温两种预报方法。展望硫化矿石堆自燃预测预报技术对硫化矿山的安全生产具有重要的指导意义。     

瓦斯对煤尘爆炸特性影响的实验研究

瓦斯的存在对煤尘爆炸特性的理论计算和数值仿真的结果与实际数据有一定差距,因此,通过不同浓度瓦斯与煤尘共存条件下爆炸实验研究,得出了矿井瓦斯对煤尘的最低着火温度、最小点火能量、爆炸下限浓度、最大爆炸压力和最大爆炸压力上升速度等爆炸特性影响的规律即瓦斯对煤尘最低着火温度影响不大;瓦斯可使煤尘的最小点火能量减小,尤其是对难于点燃的煤尘;混合物的爆炸下限浓度随瓦斯浓度的增加而降低;混合物的最大爆炸压力上升速度由于瓦斯的存在而增强,而最大爆炸压力几乎没有变化。同时研究了瓦斯对无爆炸性煤尘的影响。实验研究的结论对于现场防止煤尘爆炸的发生具有指导意义。     

在地震作用下碎石土滑坡抗滑桩的抗震加固作用机理研究

本文利用弹塑性动力固结大变形有限元模型,采用非线性分析的方法对比研究在地震荷载作用下的碎石土滑坡的抗滑桩在坡脚和边坡中部的抗震加固效果.研究结果表明:设置在边坡中部的抗滑桩相对于设置在边坡下部的抗滑桩对整体边坡土体位移支挡最有效.不同高程点动弯距的变化趋势基本相同.在同样条件下中桩位抗滑桩的静力、动力弯矩大于桩位在坡脚的抗滑桩相应位置的弯矩,表明中桩位加固位置可以更有效发挥抗滑桩的抗弯承载能力.从提高边坡稳定性和抗滑桩的抗滑效果来看,边坡中部的抗滑桩抗震加固效果较好.     

Influence of inert materials on the self-ignition of flammable dusts

Flammable solid bulk materials, including dusts, often undergo spontaneous combustion and the spread of reaction fronts. By addition of inert substances, the ignition and combustion behavior can be influenced. In a series of experiments different types of coal were mixed with inert powders to study the effect of the composition on the self-ignition temperature and on the formal kinetic parameters.Hot storage tests as well as simultaneous-thermal analysis were used as experimental techniques with the latter being coupled to FTIR measurements to analyze the composition of gaseous reaction products.All conducted hot storage experiments led to the conclusion that the self-ignition temperature was increased by admixing inert material if the decomposition temperature of the inert matter was higher than the self-ignition temperature of the combustible component at the sample characteristic length. If (exothermic) decomposition of the inert material occurred before a noticeable growth of reaction rate of the combustible material, even a reduction in the self-ignition temperature could be observed. In addition, significantly higher maximum reaction temperatures were observed for the mixtures than for the combustible material alone.     

Experimental study on oxygen consumption rate of residual coal in goaf

In order to research the actual oxygen consumption rate of residual coal in goaf, the heating and oxidizing experiment was conducted respectively on five types of single particle size of coal samples and one hybrid particle size of coal samples by using self-developed CSC-B2 test system. This study measured inlet and outlet oxygen concentration of the oxidation tank, and calculated the oxygen consumption rate of each coal sample at different temperatures. For the residual coal in the same goaf, which is regarded as a hybrid particle size of coal consisting of a variety of single granularity of coal, its oxygen consumption rate is the mass weighted average of the rate of each particle size of coal. Accordingly, this paper established the equation of oxygen consumption rate of hybrid particle size of coal samples, taking into account temperature, granularity and oxygen concentration. Then comparison between the calculated value and the actually measured value of oxygen consumption rate of hybrid particle size of coal samples at different temperatures was conducted. And the results reveal that the calculated value basically coincide with the actually measured one. Moreover, the results prove that the established calculation formula for oxygen consumption rate can be used to accurately calculate the actual oxygen consumption rate of residual coal samples. The achievement of this research is of theoretical and practical significance for learning about the characteristics of coal spontaneous combustion and forecasting the self-ignition of residual coal in goaf.     

Assessing the self-heating behaviour of Callide coal using a 2-metre column

A 2-m, adiabatic column has been successfully refurbished and recommissioned for coal self-heating research at The University of Queensland. Subbituminous coal from the Callide Coalfields reached thermal runaway in just under 19 days from a starting temperature of 20–22 °C. The coal was loaded as two layers, with an R₇₀ index of 2.73 °C h⁻¹ and 5.90 °C h⁻¹ for the upper layer and lower layer respectively. Initially, a hotspot developed in the upper layer between 120 and 140 cm from the air inlet due to moisture adsorption. After 7 days, self-heating in the lower half of the column began to take over, consistent with the higher R₇₀ index of this coal. The location of the final hotspot was approximately 60 cm from the air inlet. Further tests on Australian coals, with the column, will enable a better understanding of coal self-heating under conditions closely resembling mining, transport and storage of coal. The results from the column will also provide industry with the information needed to manage the coal self-heating hazard.