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An investigation of airflow distribution and dynamics at a longwall mine face through field survey and its implication on oxygen depletion

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Abstract

The airflow exchange between the mine ventilation system and the surface atmosphere can influence ventilation effectiveness and emit more greenhouse gas from the mine for shallow cover mines. This airflow exchange also changes the airflow dynamics at the ventilation system, specially at the tailgate corner of the longwall. In this study, the fix-point traverse technique was employed to conduct a comprehensive survey at a coal mine longwall face and tailgate region. The air velocity, oxygen and carbon monoxide concentrations, barometric pressure, and temperature were measured and surveyed. Based on the survey data, the airflow pattern and gas concentration were analyzed at return air corner on the tailgate side. Based on the measurement and analyses, it was found that the airflow at the face can be broken into two compartments by the hydraulic cylinder. These two compartments can periodically exchange the air at the face. This can influence the abnormal gas concentration for the release of carbon monoxide from the gob attributed from coal spontaneous combustion. Also, our study provided detailed information for more understanding of airflow in working face and gob by simulation method in the future work.

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The data can be available from the authors on reasonable request.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 52130409 and 51874314) and the Innovative Research Group Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52121003).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beijing Key Laboratory for Precise Mining of Intergrown Energy and Resources, China University of Mining & Technology (Beijing), Beijing, 100083, China

    Kai Wang

  2. School of Emergency Management and Safety Engineering, China University of Mining & Technology (Beijing), Beijing, 100083, China

    Kai Wang, Chuanwen Sun & Zibo Ai

  3. Chinese Academic of Science, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Beijing, 100029, China

    Chuanwen Sun & Shouding Li

Authors
  1. Kai Wang
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  2. Chuanwen Sun
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  3. Zibo Ai
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  4. Shouding Li
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Field measurement, data collection, and analysis were performed by Chuanwen Sun, Zibo Ai, and Shouding Li. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Kai Wang, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Kai Wang.

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Wang, K., Sun, C., Ai, Z. et al. An investigation of airflow distribution and dynamics at a longwall mine face through field survey and its implication on oxygen depletion. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 9456–9470 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-22503-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-22503-0

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