Search

Mine disasters occur predominantly due to methane or coal dust explosion or a combination of both. Among the top ten worst coal mine disasters in India, nine are due to coal dust explosion. The current paper describes a general overview of the parameters causing dispersion leading to coal dust explosion, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation study to observe the effects of particle size on dispersion in Indian coal mines. Turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) and velocity vector path of dust-air mixture and dust-free air were simulated to understand their effects on coal dust dispersion. The TKE contours and velocity vector paths for dust-free air were uniform and symmetrical due to resistance-free path available. The TKE contours and velocity vector paths for dust-air mixture shows the asymmetrical distribution of contours, due to entrainment of air with dust particles. Vortices were observed in velocity vector paths which gradually diminish on increment of time sequence. These vortices are dead centres where velocity and coal dust particles concentration are both zero.