Temperature-sensitive intelligent gel to prevent coal spontaneous combustion: Large-scale simulation fire extinguishing experimental study

Abstract

Coal spontaneous combustion seriously endangers mine safety production. In this study, a temperature-sensitive intelligent gel was synthesised from methylcellulose (MC), polyethene glycol (PEG) and sodium chloride (NaCl). The flow characteristics of temperature-sensitive intelligent gel (abbreviated as TSIG) under different conditions were analyzed by viscosity test. An infrared spectrometer also analyzed the microscopic flame retardant mechanism of temperature-sensitive intelligent gel. A large-scale simulation fire extinguishing test bench was designed at the coal mine site to analyze the flame retardant effect of the temperature-sensitive intelligent gel on coal oxidation reaction at different injection temperatures. The results show that the temperature-sensitive intelligent gel undergoes a liquid–solid phase transition at a temperature higher than 60 °C. When MC: PEG: NaCl = 1: 6: 5, the temperature-sensitive intelligent gel showed the best flow characteristics. The large-scale simulation fire extinguishing experiments show that the CO concentration is significantly reduced after the temperature-sensitive intelligent gel is injected at the coal temperature of 300–900 ℃, and both show excellent fire extinguishing effects. The addition of temperature-sensitive intelligent gel can inhibit the number of free radicals in the process of coal oxidation, block the chain reaction of coal spontaneous combustion, and comprehensively inhibit the process of coal spontaneous combustion. The research results provided theoretical support for the application of temperature-sensitive intelligent gel in coal spontaneous combustion areas. Additionally, they guided the design of temperature-sensitive intelligent gel to prevent coal spontaneous combustion technology.