Experimental and simulation study on the delayed release of CO in the initial stage of the low-temperature oxidation of coal

Abstract To investigate the delayed release characteristics of CO gas in the initial stage of the low-temperature oxidation of coal, closed oxygen consumption experiments were conducted on coal samples taken from the Hongqingliang coal mine, and the corresponding relationship between the CO concentration and time in the initial stage of the experimental reaction was analyzed. A physical adsorption model of the macromolecules in coal for O2 and CO was established, and the difference in the competitive adsorption between the CO and O2 gas molecules on the coal surface was analyzed from a microscopic perspective using the grand canonical ensemble Monte Carlo simulation. The results showed a delayed CO release phenomenon in the initial stage of the reaction in all the experiments, and the delayed time of CO release was negatively correlated with the temperature; the relationship between the adsorption amounts of CO and O2 in the molecular structure model of coal was CO > O2. With increasing temperature, the adsorption capacity of the two gases decreased. Under the same conditions, there was competitive adsorption of the mixture of CO and O2 by coal, with the adsorption capacity of CO being much greater than that of O2. The adsorption of CO gas molecules by coal played an inhibitory role in the release of CO gas in the initial oxidation stage. The study results are expected to help understand the CO generation characteristics in the goaf of coal seam working faces and thus prevent coal mine disasters.