Underground Mine Gas Explosion Accidents and Prevention Techniques – An overview

Abstract

Mine gas explosions present a serious safety threat in the worldwide coal mining industry. it has been considered the no.1 killer for underground coal mining workers. the formation of an explosive atmosphere involves various factors. Due to complicated stratified geology and the coal production process, geological conditions and coal production process reasons and particular working sections underground present a high risk of an explosion that would most likely cause casualties and property loss. in this study, the basic conditions, propagation law and hazards analysis of gas explosions are reviewed, followed by a review of the typical locations where an explosion would occur. Finally, current technologies used in the mining industry for preventing gas explosions and suppressing the associated dangers were studied. Preventive gas explosion technologies mainly include gas drainage, gas accumulation prevention and gas and fire source monitoring technologies. the technologies often used to control or mitigate gas explosion hazards are usually divided into active and passive, and the advantages and disadvantages of each method are discussed and compared. this paper aims to summarise the latest technologies for controlling and suppressing gas explosion and guides mining engineers to design risk mitigation strategies.