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International Journal of Coal Geology 59 (2004) 75 81 www.elsevier.

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Prevention, control and/or extinguishment of coal seam fires using cellular grout
Gary J. Colaizzi *
Goodson & Associates, Inc., 11949 W. Colfax Avenue, Lakewood, CO 80215, USA Received 14 April 2003; accepted 18 November 2003 Available online 19 March 2004

Abstract Coal fires are difficult and persistent problems throughout the world wherever coal is at or near the surface. Coal fires can be associated with mining activities including underground and surface mine operations, coal stockpiles and coal waste piles, and they can also occur in unmined areas along coal seam outcrops. Environmental safety and health hazards are posed by coal fires in the form of ground surface subsidence, air pollution, forest and brush fires, and destruction of property and surface improvements, in addition to the potential massive loss of energy resources. While many causes exist, the most common source of coal fire ignition is spontaneous combustion as weathered, or broken/pulverized coal oxidizes and the temperature rises to the ignition point. This process can occur before any mining in the case of outcrop fires, or anytime during and after the mining cycle. The magnitude of coal fire problems varies worldwide depending on reserves available, extent of mining, population, political/economic situations, and a host of other influencing factors. Mining and environmental regulations imposed in the United States have heightened awareness regarding coal fire problems and resulted in efforts to control the most problematic existing fires and extinguish small fires before they escalate. Coal fires in other major coal-bearing countries, such as China and India, pose a significantly greater problem in terms of worldwide impact. Figures for China vary dramatically but estimates indicate that as much as 100 200 million tons of coal reserves are consumed annually as a result of coal fires. Similar estimates for the Jharia Coal Field in India indicate that about 40 million tons of coal reserves were burned during the 1990s. These data point to a significant source of global pollution, in addition to substantial economic losses. Goodson & Associates, Inc. (G & AI), a Lakewood, CO engineering firm, has developed a technology utilizing cellular (foam containing) grout to mitigate coal fires from the perspectives of prevention, control and extinguishment. The variable combination of portland cement, waste fly ash, aggregates and special foams create a highly flowable, high-heat resistant grout that is used to simultaneously address each of the three necessary fire elements: fuel, oxygen and heat. Coal fire prevention can be achieved by spraying the material on the exposed surface of coal seams following completion of strip mining. Control is enabled by grout injection into cracks, vents and cut-off trenches to stall or prevent continued growth. Extinguishment can be accomplished by grout injection directly into the fire zone, air intakes and exhausts. The benefits of using this technology are numerous. Cellular grout injection is safer at lower cost than conventional techniques such as complete excavation, while causing less environmental disruption and providing for quicker

* Tel.: +1-303-233-2244; fax: +1-303-233-1938. E-mail address: gcol.gai@comcast.net (G.J. Colaizzi). 0166-5162/$ - see front matter D 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.coal.2003.11.004

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applications. The use of large quantities of fly ash in the process is economically and environmentally sound, by providing for disposal of a waste material while addressing the worldwide problem of coal fires. D 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Coal fires; Foamed concrete; Cellular concrete; Fly ash; Mine fires

1. Introduction Coal fires are difficult, persistent and costly problems throughout the United States and anywhere in the world wherever coal is at or near the surface. Coal fires can be associated with mining activities including underground and surface mine operations, coal stockpiles and coal waste piles, and they can also occur in unmined areas along coal seam outcrops. When these fires ignite and go unchecked, they can burn for decades, growing in size and magnitude and causing a host of environmental safety and health hazards that are increasingly realized as human populations expand (Office of Surface Mining, 1981). Hazards posed by coal fires include ground surface subsidence, destruction of property and surface improvements, potential massive loss of energy resources, air pollution and, forest and brush fires, among others. Worldwide air pollution contributed by uncontrolled coal fires is becoming a topic for scrutiny by scientists. Estimates have suggested that Chinas coal fires alone are responsible for as much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere annually as all the cars and light trucks in the United States (Revkin, 2002). The destructive capabilities, health hazards and magnitude of economic losses posed by coal fires are very real. Various traditional techniques for control and extinguishment of coal fires have been developed and applied over the past 50 years. In general, most fire control techniques are equipment-intensive with the potential for causing substantial environmental disruption, and most often their application is subject to very specific site conditions such as overburden depth, access for equipment and availability of water. Control and extinguishment of coal fires is costly and dangerous. Exposure of personnel and equipment to burning materials, superheated rock, exhaust gases and unseen underground collapse features

poses potentially severe safety and health hazards (Bureau of Mines, 1972). Because large coal fire control projects typically require substantial advance planning and mobilization of multiple pieces of large earthmoving equipment, they are cumbersome and time-consuming to execute. During the past 15 years, Goodson & Associates, Inc. (G & AI), a Lakewood, CO engineering firm has developed a relatively new, cellular (foam containing) grout fire control technology called Thermocell. This technology provides an alternative to traditional control methodologies that is effective, less costly, more widely applicable and faster and safer to implement.

2. Anatomy of a coal fire Coal fires can occur in underground and surface mines, in coal stockpiles and along natural outcrops where unmined coal seams are exposed at the surface. Coal fire ignition can be human-caused resulting from mining activities, or naturally occurring from sources such as lightning strikes, forest fires and probably the most common source, spontaneous combustion. Some coals are more susceptible to spontaneous combustion than others and the phenomenon occurs when weathered, or broken and pulverized coal, oxidizes with exposure to air causing the temperature to rise to the ignition point of the particular coal. In general, the development of spontaneous combustion depends on the quality of the coal and the condition of the surrounding rock as it pertains to heat dissipation. For a low quality coal overlain by high-heat retention rock, the ignition temperature can be as low as 30 40 jC (Bureau of Mines, 1980). Once they are ignited, coal seam fires can burn for decades if they are uncontrolled. As the coal is burned, voids are created and the overlying ground

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subsides creating fractures and openings on the surface through which the fire exhausts hot off-gases and smoke. As the fire advances more fractures are created, some of which act as exhaust vents, while others act as air intakes to create self-sustaining conditions for the fire to progress. Periods of dormancy may exist depending upon the availability of air and exhaust sources and on groundwater conditions (Discovery Magazine, 1997). Alternately, periods of more intense activity may exist when fires advance rapidly as more air is available. If very dry conditions exist on the surface, underground seam (outcrop) or mine fires can ignite surrounding vegetation, resulting in forest fires. Coal fires in abandoned underground mines typically spread farther and more rapidly than a seam fire. These fires can cause more substantial surface damage because the existing void structure and surface openings associated with mines readily supply more air for combustion. The capability of coal mine fires to cause property destruction was evident in the 1970s when the entire town of Centralia, PA was abandoned after an uncontrolled mine fire caused severe ground subsidence under residential and commercial buildings, and exhausted enough toxic gases in the area to make the town uninhabitable (Discovery Magazine, 1997).

3. Historical coal fire control and extinguishment techniques Any fire requires three elements to propagate: fuel, oxygen and a source of heat. If any of the three constituents is removed, a fire cannot continue to burn. Coal fire control technology is based on the control or alteration of these necessary fire elements. The most common traditional methods of coal fire control include complete excavation of burning materials, trench excavation and soil backfill to form barriers and surface soil seals. Hydraulically pumped slurry backfilling and inundation are two additional techniques that have been applied under specific circumstances where large quantities of water are available and in the case of inundation, where the water can be contained in the fire area. Other methods such as nitrogen gas injection have been

developed more recently and tried experimentally (Griffith et al., 1960). The most direct traditional fire extinguishment method is Complete Excavation, which involves physical removal of overburden and the burning coal, spreading it on a prepared surface and cooling it, generally with water. While it may result in complete extinguishment, fire excavation requires large equipment like draglines. It is also costly, environmentally disruptive and dangerous. Working in close proximity to superheated burning material poses immediate safety issues for personnel and equipment. In addition, work operations can easily cause the fire to escalate or result in forest or range fires. The feasibility of complete excavation is dependent upon the depth to the coal and the quantity of overburden to be removed (Magnuson, 1974). Trench excavation and soil backfill is a logical traditional alternative to complete excavation where fire control, but not extinguishment, can be achieved. The method consists of excavating a trench to the depth of the unburned coal seam ahead of the advancing fire. The trench is then backfilled and compacted with noncombustible, inert material. The backfilled trench forms a barrier which isolates the unburned coal or the undisturbed mine from the progressing fire. This is a passive control method because the fire will continue to burn until the barrier is reached (Jolley and Russell, 1959). The feasibility of trench barriers is generally determined by the required depth of the excavation. A widely used traditional method of fire control has been surface soil sealing to create an oxygendeprived environment in the fire zone. This technique is most often applied to fires that have developed surficial cracks over a wide area and consists of placing a thick blanket of compacted soil material over the affected area, following complete removal of all overlying vegetation. Soil seals require monitoring and periodic maintenance as fractures develop or erosion occurs over time. Soil seals are sometimes used in conjunction with other methods as circumstances dictate (Williamson, 1999). These techniques are expensive, requiring intensive use of heavy equipment such as draglines, bulldozers, front-end loaders, excavators and haul

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trucks. Large areas of the surface are generally disturbed in the application of the methods. The most widely applicable traditional methods are, with the exception of complete excavation, passive methods of control or extinguishment that address only one of the three required fire elements at a time and do not consider the aspect of fire prevention.

4. Coal fire prevention, control and extinguishment using cellular grout During the past 15 years, Goodson & Associates, Inc. (G & AI), a Lakewood, CO engineering firm has developed a new, cellular (foam containing) grout fire control technology called Thermocell, that addresses all three of the fire elements. The basic grout is composed of sand, cement, water and a required high proportion of fly ash (a byproduct of coal combustion), to which is added a quantity of air-entraining foam (much like shaving cream). The result is a lightweight grout that is extremely heat resistant and highly flowable, with the capability to be applied directly to a red-hot coal fire, without steam explosions or grout flash set. Once in contact with a fire, Thermocell encapsulates burning material, thereby removing the heat and fuel, and fills void spaces and passages, effectively acting on the sources of oxygen. By directly addressing all three critical fire propagation elements, with comparatively little land disturbance, this relatively new technology surpasses traditional coal fire control methods (Feiler and Colaizzi, 1996). 4.1. Fire prevention The objective of prevention work is to avert coal fires associated with underground and surface coal mining before they get started and become a large problem. In underground mines where mining has been completed, Thermocell grout can be used during mine closure procedures to construct seals in critical entries and sources of air intake. Thermocell seals can be constructed in all mine openings to the surface such as portals, hoist and fan shafts. Thermocell grout can also be used to sealoff abandoned sections/gob areas in active coal mines to prevent ventilation.

Thermocell grout could also be used to prevent coal fires in surface mines and strip pits, particularly in coal seams that are known to be susceptible to spontaneous combustion. During active advancement of mining, Thermocell applied like shotcrete to exposed coal seams can minimize oxygen introduction and the oxidation process. Similarly, Thermocell grout could be applied to coal seams along the pit limits, where coal seams may remain exposed for years before formal reclamation procedures are implemented (Colaizzi, 2003). 4.2. General fire control In the summer of 2002, a forest fire was sparked by an underground coal fire outside of Glenwood Springs, CO, about 160 miles west of Denver and near Aspen. The forest fire, named the Coal Seam Fire, was actually caused by a fire in an abandoned underground coal mine that had been burning for decades, causing subsidence, extensive surface fracturing and exhaust of smoke and noxious gases. Severe drought provided an environment in which extremely dry surface vegetation was ignited by heated gases exhausting from the underground fire, resulting in the destruction of over 12,000 forested acres and 37 homes. In addition, an expenditure of over US$20 million was required to fight the fire. The fire fighters, along with the entire town of Glenwood Springs and its inhabitants, were threatened and a major interstate highway had to be closed, all of which accounted for millions of dollars in property destruction and lost commerce. Following extinguishment of the forest fire, many residents of the town were evacuated several times due to mud slides on the now unvegetated, unstable slopes. The Coal Seam Fire could have been prevented if coal fire control measures had previously been applied to the underground fire. Control procedures are implemented for large coal fires where the fire has spread and impacted a substantial surface area, or where surface topography and economic considerations preclude execution of more extensive fire extinguishment techniques. Coal fire control can be approached from two levels of magnitude, basic and advanced control, depending on objectives and on economic and other considerations.

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4.3. Basic fire control Basic coal fire control procedures are implemented using Thermocell grout with the objectives of slowing advancement of the fire and preventing forest fires, property damage, health and safety hazards, air pollution, and ground subsidence. The basic control procedures rely on methods that eliminate the capability for the fire or its exhaust gases to ignite surface vegetation in the near future. The approach is considered a passive fire control technique, although two of the critical fire elements (oxygen and heat) are addressed, and the third (fuel) may be affected if the fire is a near-surface outcrop fire. Basic control procedures are approached in two steps. The first step involves using Thermocell grout to seal all surficial openings related to the underground fire. These would include exhausting fractures, air intake fractures, subsidence features, mine shafts, portals and any other existing surface openings. The first step alone is sufficient to slow the progress of the fire and prevent ignition of surface vegetation in the near term. If conditions permit, the second step can be implemented to include the construction of a soil seal over the affected area. Soil seal material should be inert, incombustible and placed and compacted in lifts to achieve the highest degree of impermeability possible. Ideally, the soil seal would be constructed to extend a distance beyond the observable affected area, further reducing the sources of intake air that enable the fire to breathe. Over time, environmental effects such as erosion can damage the seal and new cracks and subsidence fissures may provide alternate sources of ventilation for the cooling fire, possibly triggering reignition. Periodic monitoring of surface seals and the fire site is necessary to prevent this occurrence (Rushworth et al., 1989). The monitoring program should include a periodic visual inspection of the soil seals to ensure that new fractures have not formed that may require seal repair or extension. In addition, thermocouples can be installed in deep fractures and vents if they exist and can be grouted into place. The thermocouples will indicate changes in the temperature of the fire in these locations, thereby serving as an indication of the performance of the sealing work.

4.4. Advanced fire control Advanced fire control procedures using Thermocell grout go a step beyond the basic approach with the further objectives of fire containment and resource preservation. The advanced control approach includes the steps identified for basic control, but additionally includes procedures that quantify the affected area and isolate the fire against further advance into virgin coal resources. While these procedures are effective and can achieve the desired results, they are considered a passive technique for fire control because the fire may continue to burn within a restricted area defined by barriers and/or cut-off trenches. Advanced control is implemented through a series of four steps to meet the objective of containment. First, an investigation is conducted to gather all pertinent information about the fire such as whether the fire is an outcrop (seam) fire or is associated with a mine. Exploration data and mine records are useful for developing fire control plans. An exploratory drilling program is conducted at the site to identify the subsurface conditions including overburden type and thickness, coal seam depth and thickness, underground temperatures from thermocouple installations, magnitude of void space, dip (slope) of the coal seam, and the approximate boundaries (extent) of the fire. The second step consists of applying Thermocell grout to seal all surface openings (exhaust and intake fractures, shafts, portals, etc.) as in the basic control approach. This accomplishes the initial control to prevent the spread of the fire to the surface and to begin robbing the fire of ventilation. With the limits of the underground fire established, the containment aspect of advanced control can be implemented. Assuming that topographic and economic conditions allow, areas are identified, based on drilling information and other records, for remote placement of in-mine barriers and/or cut-off trenches beyond the limits of the fire. In this case, Thermocell grout can be used to remotely build barriers at specific locations in mine workings that will isolate the fire and reduce ventilation. This can be accomplished by injecting the material through cased boreholes drilled into the identified locations. Furthermore, where cut-off trenches are excavated

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through the coal seam in advance of the fire, Thermocell grout can be applied as a backfilling material from the bottom of the trench to a level above the top of the seam, creating a fireproof, impermeable barrier at the seam level. The remainder of the trench can be backfilled with inert, compacted soil material from the excavation (Feiler et al., 2000). Advanced fire control procedures are completed with the construction of a soil seal over the fire area assuming topographic conditions permit. The soil seal should be constructed, monitored and repaired as necessary, in the same manner as described in Section 4.3, Basic Coal Fire Control. In addition, thermocouples installed in drill holes, deep fractures and vents prior to grouting should be periodically monitored for temperatures to provide a record of the fire area activity and the performance of the seal over time. 4.5. Fire extinguishment Complete extinguishment is the ultimate goal of all coal fire control work, but it is not necessarily feasible in all cases, because each fire must be considered individually in terms of site-specific physical and economic constraints. Any attempt to completely extinguish a coal fire should be preceded by an exploratory drilling program to determine the limits of the fires progression underground and to determine the feasibility of extinguishment. Exploratory drilling also facilitates the estimation of quantities and costs for design purposes and provides locations for installation of the thermocouples to be used to determine the status of underground temperatures in the fire zone and to conduct subsequent monitoring. Assuming that analysis of the drilling results indicate that extinguishment of the fire is possible from economic and geologic perspectives, the second phase of control and extinguishment procedures can be implemented. The second phase of the extinguishment process consists of sealing all surface openings to start the process of controlling the fire through oxygen deprivation. Thermocell grout is applied to seal exhaust fractures, intake openings, subsidence features and mine openings (if present), as described in Sections 4.3 and 4.4, Basic and Advanced Fire Control, respectively.

The third and primary phase of extinguishing a fire using the Thermocell technology consists of a direct assault on the fire by drilling borings into the fire zone. Steel casing is installed in the borings and then Thermocell grout is injected directly into the red-hot burn zone. Thermocouples are installed in some of the borings to monitor the underground temperatures before and after grout has filled the superheated cavities. Borings are grouted from the bottom of the burn zone to the surface by withdrawing the casing in increments of a few feet as line pressure increases, thereby resulting in grout injection into all voids and fractures that exist in the profile of the hole. Thermocell grout maintains flowability in the presence of great heat, thus facilitating penetration and filling for substantial distances laterally from the boring. This third phase directly addresses all three of the critical fire propagation elements as follows. Thermocell encapsulates burning material, thereby removing the heat and fuel, and fills the void space and passages, effectively precluding the sources of oxygen (Feiler et al., 2000). The fire extinguishment process is completed with phase four, the construction of a soil seal over critical fire areas to further limit the potential for the fire to develop new sources of ventilation. Seal maintenance, along with periodic monitoring of thermocouple temperatures, should be conducted to prevent reignition until fire extinguishment is ensured.

5. Conclusions Thermocell technology can be used to mitigate coal fires from the perspectives of prevention, control and extinguishment. Thermocell technology substantially minimizes risks associated with traditional fire control and extinguishment techniques while using portable, less costly equipment capable of efficiently applying the Thermocell grout. Thermocell technology can be applied to coal fires from a passive approach for fire prevention and control or from an active approach by direct application into the burning zone for extinguishment. Thermocell grout can be used to address all three critical fire propagation elements (oxygen, fuel and heat) at the same time, thereby providing a superior alternative to traditional and other fire control methods.

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Thermocell grout technology for coal fire control is original, innovative and effective, providing a long list of benefits compared to traditional approaches. Cellular grout injection provides a higher degree of safety at a substantially lower cost than conventional techniques such as complete fire excavation. At the same time, Thermocell technology causes substantially less environmental disruption and can be accomplished in a faster timeframe. It is also less equipment and labor intensive. From social and economic perspectives, Thermocell technology preserves world coal reserves, reduces the risk of potential forest and range fires, and protects public health, safety and property from the effects of ground subsidence, water and air pollution. One of the most exciting considerations for employing Thermocell is the use of large quantities of fly ash in the process. Coal-fired power plants throughout the world produce millions of tons of fly ash annually with only a limited amount being recycled commercially. The rest is waste that ends up in surface and underground disposal pits and/or landfills. In the process of using large quantities of coal combustion byproducts (fly ash) that are essentially waste materials, Thermocell technology is cost effective. Thermocell technology is environmentally friendly, providing for disposal of a waste material in a beneficial application, reducing and/or eliminating air pollution, eliminating health and safety hazards posed to humans and wildlife and addressing the worldwide problem of coal fires. References
Bureau of Mines, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1972. Coal Fires in Abandoned Mines and Inactive Deposits. Bureau of Mines, U.S. Government. 16 pp.

Bureau of Mines, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1980. Problems in the Control of the Centralia Mine Fire. Pittsburgh, PA. 110 pp. Colaizzi, G.J., 2003. Applications and markets for lightweight, cellular concrete prepared with coal combustion products. 15th International American Coal Ash Association Symposium on Management and Use of Coal Combustion Products (CCPs). ACAA International. Discovery Magazine, 1997. Episode 310, Fatal Flaw (Video). Discovery Cable Television Channel, Produced for Discovery Communications, Inc. by Big Rock Productions, Inc. in association with Bluestone Productions, Inc. Feiler, J.J., Colaizzi, G.J., 1996. IHI Mine Fire Control Project Utilizing Foamed Grout Technology, Rifle, Colorado Bureau of Mines, United States Department of the Interior Research Contract Report 14320395H0002, 111 pp. Feiler, J.J., Colaizzi, G.J., Carder, C., 2000. Foamed Grout Controls Underground Coal-Mine Fire. Mining Engineering, September, vol. 52, No. 9. Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, pp. 58 62. Griffith, F.E., Magnuson, M.O., Toothman, G.J.R., 1960. Control of fires in inactive coal formations in the United States. Bulletin U.S. Bureau of Mines 590 (105 pp.). Jolley, T.R., Russell, H.W., 1959. Control of fires in inactive coal deposits in Western United States, including Alaska, 1948 1958. Information Circular U.S. Bureau of Mines 7932 (22 pp.). Magnuson, M.O., 1974. Control of fires in abandoned mines in the eastern bituminous region of the United States. Information Circular U.S. Bureau of Mines 8620 (53 pp.). Office of Surface Mining, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1981. Abandoned Mined Lands Reclamation Control Technology Handbook. Chap. 3: Mine Fire Control. Office of Surface Mining, U.S. Government, Washington, D.C., 84 pp. Revkin, A.C., 2002. Underlying Danger. The Denver Post, February 3, 2002, p. 25A, 30A. Rushworth, P., Haefner, B.D., Hynes, J.L., Streufert, R.K., 1989. Reconnaissance study of coal fires in inactive Colorado coal mines. Information Series Colorado Geological Survey, Department of Natural Resources 26 (60 pp.). Williamson, R., 1999. Putting Out the Fire Down Below. Rocky Mountain News, January 24, 1999, p. 1G, 6G 7G.

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