The coal dust explosion to take take place, the dust must be raised in the form of cloud and

then
ignited by the sufficient intensity of source of heat

Coal dust when suspended in the air as a cloud, is capable of bursting into an explosion and
propagate it, even in the absence of firedamp

Such necessary circumstances are:

- Fine dust of coal must be raised
- It should be present as a thick

The dense cloud must contain 30 to 40 g of coal dust per m3 of air; no one can see through it

Once the explosion is initiated as little as 1 g/m3 is sufficient to extemd the coal dust explosion to
other parts of mine

Debu batubara yang tersuspensi di udara bersifat eksplosif—debu batubara memiliki luas
permukaan per satuan berat yang jauh lebih besar daripada gumpalan batubara, dan lebih rentan
terhadap pembakaran spontan.
3 C’s concept:

- Contain: Contain your dust within process equipment

- Capture: Capture it at the point of release
- Clean: Clean it up asap
Beberapa hal yang perlu dipelajari dalam rangka pencegahan ledakan batubara ini
adalah:

 Pengetahuan dasar-dasar terjadinya ledakan, membahas:

o Gas-gas dan debu batubara yang mudah terbakar/meledak

o Karakteristik gas dan debu batubara
o Sumber pemicu kebakaran/ledakan
o Metoda eliminasi penyebab ledakan, antara lain:
o Pengukuran konsentrasi gas dan debu batubara

 Pengontrolan sistem ventilasi tambang

 Pengaliran gas (gas drainage)
 Penggunaan alat ukur gas dan debu batubara yang handal
 Penyiraman air (sprinkling water)
 Pengontrolan sumber-sumber api penyebab kebakaran dan ledakan
 Teknik pencegahan ledakan tambang
 Penyiraman air (water sprinkling)
 Penaburan debu batu (rock dusting)
 Pemakaian alat-alat pencegahan standar.
 Fasilitas pencegahan penyebaran kebakaran dan ledakan, antara lain:
 Lokalisasi penambangan dengan penebaran debu batuan
 Pengaliran air ke lokasi potensi kebakaran atau ledakan
 Penebaran debu batuan agak lebih tebal pada lokasi rawan
 Tindakan pencegahan kerusakan akibat kebakaran dan ledakan:
 Pemisahan rute (jalur) ventilasi
 Evakuasi, proteksi diri, sistemperingatandini, dan penyelamatansecara tim.
A
Dust explosion was one of major industrial accidents.

The bituminous dusts in Junde Mine of Longmry mining group Co, LTD was selected as a case study.
Explosion parameters were shown in Table 3 whose median particle diameter was 63μm [31]

minimum ignition temperature of the coal dust layer

COAL DUST EXPLOSION HAZARDS
MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMININSTRATION PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA

Although coal can be handled safely and can be an efficient fuel, there are explosion hazards which
are accentuated as the particle size is reduced. Particle sizes of coal which can fuel a propagating
explosion occur within thermal dryers, cyclones, baghouses, pulverized-fuel systems, grinding mills,
and other process or conveyance equipment.

There are three necessary elements which must occur simultaneously to cause a fire: fuel, heat, and
oxygen. On the other hand, for an explosion to occur, there are five necessary elements which must
occur simultaneously: fuel, heat, oxygen, suspension, and confinement

 Fuel

There are several requirements of coal in order to be explosive. These requirements are volatile
ratio, particle size, and quantity.

o The volatile ratio is to evaluate the explosibility of coals To calculate the volatile ratio, a
proximate analysis must be performed. The volatile ratio is defined as the volatile matter
divided by the summation of volatile matter and fixed carbon of the coal. It has been
determined that coals with a volatile ratio exceeding 0.12 present a dust explosion hazard.

o A bituminous coal particles passing through a U.S. standard 20-mesh sieve (841 micron or
0.03 inch) can participate in a coal dust explosion. Typically, in pulverized-fuel systems, the
coal is reduced to a particle size where more than 85% will pass a U.S. standard 200-mesh
sieve with openings of 74 microns or about 0.003 inch. These coal dust particles require less
energy or temperature to ignite and, since heat transfers more quickly between smaller
particles, the pressure and rate of pressure rise during an explosion are accentuated.

o Minimum explosive concentration (MEC) is the minimum quantity of dust in suspension that
will propagate a coal dust explosion and generate sufficient pressure to cause damage. The
MEC for bituminous coal is approximately 0.10 ounce per cubic foot or 100 grams per cubic
meter. On the other hand, the hazard can be lessened with the addition of ash, rock dust,
inert gas, and any other inert material. Also, a person cannot breathe in an atmosphere
containing dust at the MEC.

 Heat
o At high volatile contents, the ignition temperature of a coal dust cloud approaches a limiting
temperature as low as 4400C (8240F). Increases in size result in rapid rise in the ignition
temperature requirements. Resistors in controllers or other electrical components may
exceed this temperature up to 537 0C (1,0000F) in a darkened room.
 o Dust clouds of lignite and subbituminous coals can ignite with as little as 30 millijoules of
energy. Beyond 8% moisture, the minimum amount of energy required for an explosion
increases dramatically and, at 15% moisture, about ten times more energy is required.

 Oxygen
o As the volatile content of a coal increases, less oxygen is required to complete the fire
triangle or the explosion pentagon
o . Less oxygen is also required as the rank of the coal decreases. However, at ambient
temperatures, the oxygen content must be reduced to below 13% to prevent ignition of
bituminous coal dusts with a strong ignition source.

 Suspension
o completion of the explosion pentagon does require that the fuel be placed in suspension
o The speed and duration of the moving air in an explosion is capable of dispersing additional
coal dust from the floor, walls, overhead beams, and equipment.
o In most coal dust explosions, the air speed exceeds 200 miles per hour. In fact, a coal dust
explosion will generally die out if the air speed is less than 100 miles per hour (150 feet per
second)

 Confinement
o Confinement keeps the fine coal particles in close proximity after they are placed in
suspension
o Without the closeness, heat transfer could not occur rapidly enough to allow continued
propagation
o If confinement is lost, the air speed will drop, additional coal dust will not be placed in
suspension, and the explosion will extinguish.
1. Raw Coal Stockpile
a. There is a definite possibility of an explosion occurring within the pulverizer because all sides
of the explosion pentagon could occur simultaneously
2. Coal Pulverizer
a. Under normal operating conditions, coal is dropped from the weigh scale into a rotary
airlock before it enters the pulverizer. The rotary airlock allows the coal and its inherent
moisture to enter the pulverizer, but prevents any outside air from entering the system.
Generally, the outside air has a higher oxygen content than the air circulating in the system
and this additional oxygen could lead to completion of the explosion pentagon and potential
disaster.
b. The finer the coal, the greater the explosion hazard.
c. When a system goes down under load, all the coal falls out of suspension. The internal
surfaces are at elevated temperatures and the process of spontaneous combustion begins
immediately. If the system is then restarted without full knowledge of internal conditions, an
explosion could occur when the hot particles are suspended.
3. Primary Air Fan
a. fine coal particles may find their way out of the mill through any small crack or fracture in
the mill or through parts of the mill that are not well sealed.
4. Dust Cyclone
a.
5. System Fan
a.
6. Baghouse
finely pulverized coal dust has a lower explosive limit of 0.035 to 0.08 ounces per cubic foot.
Although formation of° coal dust is not possible to prevent, its dispersion can, however, be
considerably reduced if proper preventive measures are adopted.

In general, this .will involve the prevention of coal dust formation, prevention of dus't dispersion to
form. a cloud, prevention of ignition of the dust, and as a final step, prevention of explosive
propagation.

The quantity.of dust that is raised into·~he air during coal. under-cutting operations ranges from
65.5 to 163.9 million particles per cubic foot of air and· averages 120.9 particles for the dry methiod .
Ignition control ��eliminate (as far as possible) sources of ignition; Gas control ��minimise the
methane which can enter the ventilated roadways (for example, by predrainage); ��control
accumulations of methane in roadways by effective ventilation; Dust control ��minimise the
production of coal dust; ��prevent coal dust from accumulating in the roadways (for example, by
using dust scrubbing systems, or washing down surfaces); ��reduce the ability of coal dust to be
raised into the air by a gas ignition (for example, by keeping working places wet).