CORROSION RESULTING FROM SALINE SOLUTIONS IN

COAL MINES
Mine working supports and machinery are always subject to a certain
amount of salt water corrosion. As the salt paste method is being
increasingly used in West German mines for the prevention of coal dust
explosions (1, 2, 3,4 ) , saline solutions are likely to be more frequent in
underground workings. Service experience has already shown that salt
paste may cause fairly severe corrosion of such materials as steel and
light metals. Since corrosive media are no longer confined to the usual
places where water is found but are met with elsewhere, and to an even
greater extent, the elimination or reduction of corrosion is becoming a
matter of general importance in coal mining. As we have been
manufacturing and widely using salt pastes at the Saar mines since 1963
(3) the problem of salt solution corrosion has been engaging our close
attention for some years. The following is a report on the results of work
carried out to date.
I. THE CAUSES OF CORROSION
The extent of the corrosion mainly depends on :
1. The salt solution resistance of the metal material used Mine water
and salt pastes are both electrolytes, so that metals occupying
different positions in the electrochemical series form an
electrochemical element upon contact with pastes or mine water. If
the metals are in electrical contact with one another, the more
reactive metal becomes the anode and goes into solution as an ion,
i.e. the material concerned is destroyed by corrosion. Differences in
potential leading to corrosion may also occur between parts made of
the same material and between different points of the same
component.
2. Concentration and type of salts in pastes and mine water The
severity of corrosion depends on the quantity and type of the
dissolved salts; the oncentration and mobility of the ions determine
the electrical conductivity and thus influence the extent of the
attack. Mine water differs from surface water on account of its
considerably higher salt content. In particular, it has a high
concentration of calcium, magnesium and sodium salts, and
bicarbonate, chloride and sulphate anions are usually found. The
deliquescence products of salt pastes and similar hygroscopic dust
binders are concentrated magnesium or calcium chloride solutions.
The latter have the same corrosive effect as mine water but with the
added drawback that the activity of mine water is usually confined to a few
spots, whereas the salt paste is often distributed over long stretches of
underground workings.
3. Humidity and temperature of the air in mines The amount of corrosion
damage also depends on the humidity and temperature of the air in the
mine. It is a known fact that in mines of relatively low atmospheric
humidity, e.g. salt mines, corrosion damage is negligible despite the large
amount of salt whereas corrosion is more severe in very damp mines
where a fairly high temperature also induces it.

It follows from sections 1 - 3 that the conditions in coal mines are

particularly conducive to the corrosion of metallic materials. On the one
hand economic considerations forbid the use of corrosion-resistant alloys
for such support material as the numerous pit props, lagging grids, etc.,
and on the other it is just as impossible to avoid corrosive saline mine
water and salt pastes as high humidity and temperature of the air in the
mine. Hence the only solution is to safeguard equipment against corrosion
by taking suitable economically feasible precautions. In order to select the
latter, there must be test methods for assessing the corrosive effect of
water and saline solutions in mines and rapidly and reliably weighing out
the advantages and disadvantages of the precautions and preparations
employed.

III. EXAMINATION OF THE CORROSIVE EFFECT OF WATER, SALINE

AND WETTER SOLUTIONS
The corrosive effect on steel of different types of water and saline and
wetter solutions were examined by method A. Fig. 3 shows that drinking
water is considerably more corrosive than distilled water, the difference
being no doubt due to the electrolyte content of the drinking water. By the
same token, mine water, which is even more saline, was found to be
considerably more corrosive. This method
was also employed to determine how far wetters may affect corrosion. To
this end a number of wetters of the alkylaryl polyglycolether type used in
salt pastes were added to pure water and saline solutions. It was found
that all wetter solutions only have a very weakly corrosive effect; even when
the contents of wetter were higher than those used under normal conditions of
service, the corrosive effect of drinking water was not exceeded when the wetter
was present in pure water.
IV. METHODS OF CONTROLLING SALT SOLUTION CORROSION
The following are the chief methods of preventing or reducing corrosion damage
in mines caused by saline solutions or salt pastes :
1. the addition of anti-corrosive agents to the salt paste at the manufacturing
stage;
2. the surface protection of installations by the application of greases which if
required may contain corrosion inhibitors;
3. protecting the surface by the use of rustproofing paints;
4. protecting materials from corrosion by the use of plasticn coatings ;
5. cathodic protection of materials;
6. the use of corrosion-resistant materials.