Possibility of using tracer gases to determine the coal mass in the outbreak of spontaneous combustion and related affecting factors

Abstract

Spontaneous combustion of coal mass is a very actual problem in underground coal mines. Professional research workplaces have investigated the problem since the first half of the twentieth century. Spontaneous combustion of coal in the form of endogenous fires is a reason of extraordinary events whose consequences are serious both in terms of economic losses, and in the field of security, because in the worst cases they are accompanied by the loss of human lives. Tracer gases are associated manifestations of each spontaneous combustion process, but their utilization to determine the extent of the outbreak of endogenous fire is burdened by numerous factors. The article addresses these affecting factors as well as the possibility of using the tracer gases to determine the mass of spontaneous combustion outbreak.