INERTISATION AND MINE FIRE SIMULATION USING COMPUTER SOFTWARE

C14025: Inertisation and Mine Fire Simulation Using Computer Software 25/05/2007 Inertisation is a technique that has been used around the world to enhance the safety of underground coal mine areas either to avoid the potential for a combustion event or to stabilise a situation after an ignition, fire or heating. The term normally refers to the fact that the atmosphere in the area is such that it cannot sustain combustion, including ignitions, and is therefore “inert”. The primary objective of the study is to review coal mine inertisation in Australia. In particular it is to focus on use of the Polish mine fire simulation software “VENTGRAPH ” to gain better understanding of how inertisation (GAG, Mineshield, Nitrogen Pressure Swing Adsorption (Floxal) and Tomlinson Boiler) units interact with the complex ventilation behaviour underground during a substantial fire. Most emphasis has been given to understanding behaviour of the GAG unit because of its high capacity output. Critical aspects targeted for examination under the project grant include location of the unit for high priorit