The New Fire Prevention Materials Using in the Coal Fire Zones-Foamed Gel

Abstract

Coal fires are emerging as a global threat with significant economic, social and ecological impacts, besides the loss of energy resources those fires cause air and water pollution and emit enormous amounts of green house gases (carbon dioxide and methane), how to prevent and extinct the fires has been a worldwide issue. According to the respective limitation and characteristic of gel fire prevention materials and foam fire prevention materials, a new thinking of foamed gel coal fire prevention materials is put forward creatively. Foamed gel that includes the characteristic of gel and foam possessed the property of accumulation. It also has the performance of sealing and secluding oxygen. This paper describes the composition and characteristic of foamed gel, as well as the laboratory production process. For large coal fire zones, the new fire prevention materials (Foamed Gel) have a broad application prospect.

Study on the Inhibition Characteristics of Coal Spontaneous Combustion by Silica Gel Foam

“…Gel component: The gel component can improve the water retention and cooling characteristics of the foam, that is, increase the water content in the foam, enhance the heat absorption capacity of the foam, and reduce the temperature of the coal seam . The gel component can also improve the spatial retention time of the foam, that is, increase the viscosity and adhesion of the foam, so the foam can better adhere to the surface and cracks of the coal seam, thereby prolonging its inhibitory effect …”

“…Therefore, the fire prevention function of water mainly involves heat absorption and cooling, slowing down heat accumulation, and cutting off the oxygen supply. Gel component: The gel component can improve the water retention and cooling characteristics of the foam, that is, increase the water content in the foam, enhance the heat absorption capacity of the foam, and reduce the temperature of the coal seam . The gel component can also improve the spatial retention time of the foam, that is, increase the viscosity and adhesion of the foam, so the foam can better adhere to the surface and cracks of the coal seam, thereby prolonging its inhibitory effect Foam component: The foam component can imbue the newly developed material with its characteristics and improve its wetting, dispersion, fluidity, water saving, and spatial coverage.…”

“… 25 The gel component can also improve the spatial retention time of the foam, that is, increase the viscosity and adhesion of the foam, so the foam can better adhere to the surface and cracks of the coal seam, thereby prolonging its inhibitory effect. 26 Foam component: The foam component can imbue the newly developed material with its characteristics and improve its wetting, dispersion, fluidity, water saving, and spatial coverage. The foam component mostly belongs to the surfactant component, which could improve the wetting of the gas–liquid interface between water and coal.…”

“… 25 The gel component can also improve the spatial retention time of the foam, that is, increase the viscosity and adhesion of the foam, so the foam can better adhere to the surface and cracks of the coal seam, thereby prolonging its inhibitory effect. 26 …”

Combustion mechanism and control approaches of underground coal fires: a review

“…Sealing air leakage channels is also one of the means of fire extinguishing. Foam slurry was used earlier as a sealing material abroad and developed gradually (Colaizzi 2004), while traditional materials such as mud and clay minerals were developed to new materials in China, including three-phase foams Liang et al 2006;Qin et al 2014a, b), colloid (Deng et al 2012;Wang 2014a), composite colloid (Liang 2010), inorganic curing foams (Lu 2015;Qin et al 2014a, b;Xi et al 2021), gel foams (Cao et al 2012;Shen et al 2017), and polymer blocking materials,, and they have been applied (Wen and Xu 2001;He et al 2006;Peng et al 2020). The polymer plugging material can expand dozens of times in volume during the process of action to achieve the effect of fully sealing cracks and channels.…”