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Dispersion of methane in tailgate of a retreating longwall mine: a computational fluid dynamics study

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Abstract

Methane layering is a critical issue for underground coal mines. It can lead to methane explosion and trigger massive explosion of coal dust. This paper presents the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation study on dispersion of methane layer in tailgate of a retreating longwall mine panel considering the methane emission rate from an underground coal mine in India. Distribution of methane-air mixture velocity and dispersion of methane in the tailgate were investigated at air velocities varying in the range of 0.5–3.0 m/s at 0.5 m/s intervals. The study revealed that ventilation plays a significant role on methane dispersion in underground coal mines and a minimum air velocity of 3.0 m/s is required for lowering the average methane concentration in the tailgate to a safer level. The adequacy of ventilation for preventing methane layering was examined in terms of methane layering number. The simulation results were compared with the experimental data obtained from a full-scale coal mine and fairly good agreement between them was observed. It is envisaged that this study can greatly improve the understanding of methane layering and methane dispersion phenomena in underground coal mines.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to express their sincere thanks to Mr. J. Sathua Mahapatra, Project Officer, Moonidih Project of Bharat Coking Coal Ltd. for giving permission to carryout experiments in the mine and for providing relevant data for this research. The authors are also thankful to the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments, which immensely helped in improving the manuscript.

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  1. Department of Mining Engineering, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, 826 004, Jharkhand, India

    Devi Prasad Mishra, Pradeep Kumar & Durga Charan Panigrahi

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  1. Devi Prasad Mishra
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  2. Pradeep Kumar
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  3. Durga Charan Panigrahi
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Correspondence to Devi Prasad Mishra.

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Mishra, D.P., Kumar, P. & Panigrahi, D.C. Dispersion of methane in tailgate of a retreating longwall mine: a computational fluid dynamics study. Environ Earth Sci 75, 475 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-016-5319-9

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