Coal Fires and Their Impact on the Environment

A special issue of Fire (ISSN 2571-6255).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 May 2025 | Viewed by 1633

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Ecology and Environment, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830017,China
Interests: coal fire and its impacts on the eco-environment; mining safety and the environment

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Guest Editor
School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
Interests: mining safety and the environment

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Coal fires are a phenomenon induced by the coal–oxygen reaction associated with all the processes of the coal industry: coal mining, coal storage, coal transportation, and coal utilization. Coal fires not only threaten coal mining, coal storage, and coal transportation due to burning through significant coal resources, it also have impacts that are harmful to human health and the surrounding eco-environment, such as surface subsidence, air pollution, soil contamination, and the release of gases and particles that are toxic to humans. Systematic further research on coal fires and their impacts on the eco-environment is vital in order to deal with this issue efficiently and effectively.

This Special Issue aims to demonstrate the latest research work on coal fires and their consequences. It will expand and enrich the literature on the mechanisms behind coal fire occurrence, detection, monitoring, and early warning, the development of effective and efficient methods and technologies, and the quantification of the environmental impacts of coal fires.

The theme of coal fires is well suited to the scope of Fire.

Suggested topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • The mechanisms behind coal fire occurrence and propagation;
  • The detection, monitoring, and early warning of coal fires;
  • The development of effective and efficient methods and technologies against coal fires;
  • The quantification of the impacts of coal fires on the environment;
  • The ecological restoration of coal fire sites.

We welcome the submission of original research articles, case studies, experimental reports, and reviews for this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Qiang Zeng
Prof. Dr. Ting Ren
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • mechanism of coal fire occurrence
  • coal fire propagation
  • monitoring and early warnings of coal fire
  • coal fire impacts on the environment
  • utilization of resource at coal fire sites
  • ecological restoration of coal fire sites

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 24192 KiB  
Article
Study on the Eco-Environmental Index and Its Application: A Case Study of the Surablak Coal Fire Area, Xinjiang, China
by Jie Gao and Qiang Zeng
Fire 2025, 8(2), 53; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire8020053 - 27 Jan 2025
Viewed by 588
Abstract
Coal fires are disasters that occur when underground coal seams are subjected to combustion conditions induced by natural or human factors. This study attempts to investigate the impact of coal fires on the surrounding environment by assessing the eco-environmental quality and its dynamic [...] Read more.
Coal fires are disasters that occur when underground coal seams are subjected to combustion conditions induced by natural or human factors. This study attempts to investigate the impact of coal fires on the surrounding environment by assessing the eco-environmental quality and its dynamic changes in the Surablak coal fire area. To achieve this, an improved remote sensing ecological index (termed RSEIds) is introduced to assess and track the quality and dynamics of eco-environmental conditions in the Surablak coal fire area from 1990 to 2022. Subsequently, this index is combined with a geographic detector (GeoDetector) model to identify potential factors influencing eco-environmental quality. The findings indicate that (1) compared with the established Remote Sensing Ecological Index (RSEI), the RSEIds provides a high degree of precision in reflecting the eco-environmental conditions within the regions affected by coal fires, (2) the eco-environmental quality within the Surablak coal fire area underwent a continuous deterioration from 1990 to 2022, with the area of ecological degradation constituting 53.41% of the study region, (3) regions with excellent and good RSEIds values are mainly found in the forested mountainous regions located in the northern section of the coal fire area, whereas regions with poor and fair RSEIds values largely coincide with the coal fire locations, and (4) since 2006, the distance to the coal fire has become the key factor influencing eco-environmental quality in the Surablak area, while temperature and precipitation remained important factors. The outcomes of this study will provide essential references for guiding ecological restoration and promoting sustainable development in coal fire areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Coal Fires and Their Impact on the Environment)
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9 pages, 1125 KiB  
Article
Self-Heating Risk of Coals and Metal Powders: A Comparison
by Boleslav Taraba and Roman Maršálek
Fire 2024, 7(11), 378; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire7110378 - 24 Oct 2024
Viewed by 634
Abstract
The self-heating risk of four coal samples (two bituminous and two subbituminous) and five metal powder samples (four industrial and one laboratory-prepared) were studied calorimetrically using oxidation heat at 30 °C. All of the samples were measured in fresh (as-received), vacuum-dried and wetted [...] Read more.
The self-heating risk of four coal samples (two bituminous and two subbituminous) and five metal powder samples (four industrial and one laboratory-prepared) were studied calorimetrically using oxidation heat at 30 °C. All of the samples were measured in fresh (as-received), vacuum-dried and wetted states. The heat effects of fresh and/or dried coals were found to be significantly higher than those of the metals. On the other hand, wetting the samples markedly increased the oxidation heat mainly of the metals, making their oxidation potential comparable to or even exceeding that of the subbituminous coals. As a practical consequence, a comprehensive index to assess the self-heating risk of the materials in respect to both their oxidation ability and the effect of moisture is proposed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Coal Fires and Their Impact on the Environment)
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