SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, June 7: The country’s coal mines will soon be free of the threat of fire and explosion. The Department of Mining Engineering at IIT Indian School of Mines (ISM) researched a ‘Raksha Kawach’ (shield) to avoid spontaneous fire and explosion in coal mines.
Dr Devi Prasad Mishra, Associate Professor of Mining Engineering Department of IIT (ISM), has conducted research on pulverized coal which would ensure the safety of coal mines and avoid incidents. The research will protect the mines from spontaneous combustion and explosion.
“Not only in coal mines, but the research will also prove as a ‘shield’ to industries and utility sectors that deal with pulverized coal. It will strengthen safety and help in the risk management process,” said Dr Mishra.
The research of IIT ISM is being billed as a major breakthrough in underground mines protection of the coal sector and its based industries.
The research ‘Physico-Chemical Characteristics of Pulverized Coal and their interrelations- a spontaneous combustion and explosion perspective’ was a project worth Rs 21.45 lakh funded by the Science and Engineering Board of the Department of Science and Technology (DST).
Dr Mishra in association with the faculty of the Mechanical Engineering Department of IIT (Madras) Dr V Raghavan completed the research in three years (2017-2020).
“The research findings helped us to get knowledge about the particle size, exposed specific surface area and gas adsorption characteristics of coal of various particle sizes. It would help the mine management to take appropriate measures to prevent the occurrence of spontaneous combustion, mine fires and explosion in coal mines,” he said.
IIT ISM team of Dr Mishra in course of the research conducted a study and collected coal samples from different mines of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL), Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL)Dhanbad, Central Coalfields Limited (CCL)Ranchi, Eastern Coalfields Limited ( ECL) Sanctoria, and other coal subsidiaries of Coal India Limited.
“This research generated coal characteristics data of pulverized coal which can be useful for research on spontaneous combustion and explosion involving pulverized coals,” said Dr Mishra who is considered an expert in Mine Ventilation and Environmental Engineering, mine fire and explosion, application of CFD in mine ventilation and environmental engineering and fly ash.
“This research can be extended to coarser mine size coals, which are generally found in goaf
(mined out) areas of underground mines, coal stacks and waste dumps and prone to spontaneous combustion,” Dr Mishra said.
He further added that this research will help in understanding the physio-chemical characteristics of pulverized coal, variations of bulk density, specific surface area and gas adsorption.
