Estimation of greenhouse gas emissions from spontaneous combustion/fire of coal in opencast mines – Indian context

Mohalik, N.K.; Lester, Edward; Lowndes, Ian; Singh, V.K.

Abstract

There are a significant number of uncontrolled coal mine fires (primarily due to spontaneous combustion of coal), which are currently burning all over the world. These spontaneous combustion sources emit greenhouse gases (GHGs). A critical review reveals that there are no standard measurement methods to estimate GHG emissions from mine fire/spontaneous combustion areas. The objective of this research paper was to estimate GHGs emissions from spontaneous combustion of coals in the Indian context. A sampling chamber (SC) method was successfully used to assess emissions at two locations of the Enna Opencast Project (OCP), Jharia Coalfield (JCF), for 3 months. The study reveals that measured cumulative average emission rate for CO2 varies from 75.02 to 286.03 gs−1m−1 and CH4 varies from 41.49 to 40.34 gs−1m−1 for low- and medium-temperature zones. The total GHG emissions predicted from this single fire affecting mines of JCF vary from 16.86 to 20.19 Mtyr−1

Citation

Mohalik, N., Lester, E., Lowndes, I., & Singh, V. (in press). Estimation of greenhouse gas emissions from spontaneous combustion/fire of coal in opencast mines – Indian context. Carbon Management, 7(5-6), https://doi.org/10.1080/17583004.2016.1249216

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 7, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Nov 28, 2016
• Deposit Date: Feb 13, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 13, 2017
• Journal: Carbon Management
• Print ISSN: 1758-3004
• Electronic ISSN: 1758-3012
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 7
• Issue: 5-6
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17583004.2016.1249216
• Keywords: Spontaneous combustion, greenhouse gases, Jharia coalfield, opencast mines, emission estimation
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/826841
• Publisher URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17583004.2016.1249216
• Additional Information: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Carbon Management on 28 Nov 2016, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/17583004.2016.1249216
• Contract Date: Feb 13, 2017