A comprehensive study on the effect of moisture content on coal spontaneous combustion tendency

Abstract

There are several phenomenons for polluting the environment, especially in coalfields; which coal spontaneous combustion is one of them. The moisture content is one of the intrinsic characteristics of coal, which has an important role in the occurrence of this phenomenon. Therefore, this research predicts the coal spontaneous combustion tendency based on moisture content. The percentage of moisture content is a very important parameter on the occurrence of this process; so far a conclusion about the effect of moisture content on coal spontaneous combustion, a comprehensive study was done. 55 coal samples with different percentage of moisture content for the training of overall underground coalfields in Iran were collected and the CPT test method for each coal sample was carried out. Then, the method of regression analysis was used for modeling and predicting the coal spontaneous combustion tendency. The results show, the coal sample undergoes oxidation most rapidly when the moisture content supply is about under 20%, and it can reduce coal spontaneous combustion in excessed of 20%, because when moisture is present in excessed of 20%, the heat released by oxidation is used to evaporate the moisture. For validation and testing, 15 coal samples of another coalfield were collected and the CPT test method for each coal sample was carried out, and the results of the test method were compared by the regression equation. The results obtained from the models show that a good appropriate prediction has been done for determining the coal spontaneous combustion tendency by regression analysis.