Mine Fire Behavior under Different Ventilation Conditions: Real-Scale Tests and CFD Modeling

Abstract

Fires in underground spaces are especially relevant due to their potential mortality. However, there is not much research in real-scale spaces done so far. In this study, several fire scenarios were analyzed in an underground drift, taking into account the main environmental variables: airflow, temperature, oxygen, and pollutants. The behavior before and after the fire load was determined, as well as the evolution of the fire over time throughout the drift and its cross-section, finding important trends of the fire based on the airflow–fuel load ratio. Furthermore, the five most representative scenarios were modeled using the fire dynamics simulator (FDS). Results obtained in the simulations, with the adjusted parameters, display a good correlation between simulated and experimental values, being able to extrapolate these values to know the performance of potential fires in other underground spaces or mines. The outcomes could also be a very useful tool to study the effectiveness of possible emergency measures or the potential impact of a fire in this type of environments.

Analysis of the Fire Propagation in a Sublevel Coal Mine

“…Figure 2 shows the detailed locations of the thermocouples in the control areas of the three accessible plants. As already mentioned, the experimental design of the fire monitoring was based on the experience accumulated in other studies previously carried out [20]. The evolution of the fire was monitored during a one-year period, January to December.…”

“…Guo and Zhang [11] have compared experimental data from a fire developed in a very narrow tunnel with CFD analysis, while Sun et al [15] have studied the effectiveness of a water spray system to extinguish the fire. Full-scale tests have been done over the last decades [16,17], but only a few real-scale fire studies have compared modeled data with actual measurements [18][19][20], with a lack of studies focused on a long period of time in an ongoing mine. Yuan et al [18] studied the carbon monoxide spread in a mine fire combining the usage of mine ventilation software and CFD analysis, using an interesting combination of tools.…”

“…The fire is located in a collapsed area of the mine. The specialized code fire dynamics simulator (FDS) (v5.3, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, US) was used to develop a model, using the parameters validated in a series of fires previously investigated in a full-scale laboratory mine [20]. The mine ventilation software VenPri (v4.2, AITEMIN, Mieres, Spain) was also used in the investigation of multiple scenarios.…”

Determination and Fire Analysis of Gob Characteristics Using CFD

“…Therefore, it is necessary to have detailed knowledge of the potential toxic products, in case of a fire, so as to apply adequate measures if necessary [11][12][13]. Laboratory tests and specific studies have been done to analyze fire behavior and smoke generation [14].…”

“…Laboratory tests and specific studies have been done to analyze fire behavior and smoke generation [14]. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis to identify fire evolution and coal characteristics is widely used [15,16], particularly with Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) software [13]. However, there are complicated areas, such as the gob, where it is impossible to access and know the real conditions in detail [17], as some of the coal parameters are difficult to define when modeling software is used, such as the chemical reaction of coal [18,19] or the effect of moisture [20], while safety issues related to the gob area are multiple, from ventilation to geomechanics, among others [21].…”