In order to explore the factors affecting coal spontaneous combustion, the fractal characteristics of coal samples are tested, and a pore-scale model for oxygen adsorption in coal porous media is developed based on self-similar fractal model. The liquid nitrogen adsorption experiments show that the coal samples indicate evident fractal scaling laws at both low-pressure and high-pressure sections, and the fractal dimensions, respectively, represent surface morphology and pore structure of coal rock. The pore-scale model has been validated by comparing with available experimental data and numerical simulation. The present numerical results indicate that the oxygen adsorption depends on both the pore structures and temperature of coal rock. The oxygen adsorption increases with increased porosity, fractal dimension and ratio of minimum to maximum pore sizes. The edge effect can be clearly seen near the cavity/pore, where the oxygen concentration is low. The correlation between the oxygen adsorption and temperature is found to obey Langmuir adsorption theory, and a new formula for oxygen adsorption and porosity is proposed. This study may help understanding the mechanisms of oxygen adsorption and accordingly provide guidelines to lower the risk of spontaneous combustion of coal.

Coal is China's main energy source and fuel. Coal spontaneous combustion is one of the most prominent issues that threaten the production safety of coal mining, storage, and transportation. In order to explore the factors affecting coal spontaneous combustion, we explored the pore structure characteristics of the coal based on the fractal theory, through the low-temperature liquid nitrogen adsorption experiment of coal. The fractal dimension of the coal sample was calculated, and the oxygen adsorption quantity of the same coal sample was obtained by using the physical adsorption experiment of coal. Experimental and fitting results showed that coal sample has obvious surface fractal dimension features and pore structure fractal features. Fractal dimension expressed coal oxygen adsorption well. In the meantime, the coal samples with lower fractal dimension, higher temperature, smaller porosity usually have less oxygen adsorption quantity. This research can not only enrich the study of oxygen adsorption in porous media such as coal, but also help to understand its spontaneous combustion mechanism in depth, thereby reducing the occurrence of spontaneous combustion disasters.