Mine-fire diagnostics and implementation of water injection with fume exhaustion at Renton, PA. Rept. of Investigations/1991

Technical Report · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1991

OSTI ID:5214381

Dalverny, L E; Chaiken, R F

U.S. Bureau of Mines research to develop diagnostic methods to locate and evaluate fires in abandoned mines and waste banks and techniques to extinguish such fires was applied to an abandoned 60-acre underground bituminous coal mine (Renton, Allegheny County, PA) to locate and extinguish three separated fire zones. Mine fire diagnostics interpret changes from baseline values in subsurface pressures, temperatures and mine gas composition under imposed pressure gradients induced by a borehole exhaust fan. The effective gas-sampling area surrounding each borehole is greatly enlarged. Sampling iterations, using a communicating boreholes set, provide fire signature information for locating both heated and cold areas. Time-dependent monitoring differentiates heating and cooling periods resulting from combustion front movement and/or fire extinguishment activities. A water injection with fume exhaustion extinguishment effort involved injecting water through boreholes to quench the heated zones while exhaust fans actively removed heated gases from the mine. The technique was ineffective as implemented, primarily because of inadequate spreading of water from the injection points. The Bureau's diagnostic method determined the fire locations and the effectiveness of the water injection with fume exhaustion extinguishment technique.

• Research Organization: Bureau of Mines, Pittsburgh, PA (United States). Pittsburgh Research Center
• OSTI ID: 5214381
• Report Number(s): PB-91-230243/XAB; BUMINES-RI--9363
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
016000* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Health & Safety
ABANDONED SHAFTS
BLOWERS
BOREHOLES
CAVITIES
COAL MINES
COMBUSTION PRODUCTS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
DETECTION
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES
EVALUATION
EXHAUST GASES
FEDERAL REGION III
FIRE DETECTORS
FIRE EXTINGUISHERS
FIRE FIGHTING
FIRES
FLUID INJECTION
FLUIDS
GAS ANALYSIS
GASEOUS WASTES
GASES
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
MINE SHAFTS
MINES
MINING
MONITORING
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NORTH AMERICA
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PENNSYLVANIA
PRESSURE MEASUREMENT
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
SHAFT EXCAVATIONS
SIMULATION
TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT
UNDERGROUND FACILITIES
UNDERGROUND MINING
US BUREAU OF MINES
US DOI
US ORGANIZATIONS
USA
WASTES
WATER