{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/36740"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/36740","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"The Ignition of Methane and Coal Dust by Air Compression - The Experimental Proof","abstract":"When a large area of open gob collapses suddenly, a windblast is produced that can cause considerable damage throughout the infrastructure of a mine. In a few cases, the windblast has been accompanied by ignitions of methane and/or coal dust. Analytical and numerical analyses investigated the transient behavior of the air through the small time period during which the roof is falling. This is sufficiently short to allow adiabatic compression of the air, i.e. negligible heat transfer to rock surfaces. Controlled escape of the air via interconnecting entries limits the build-up of air pressure. However, this same phenomenum causes the potential energy of the falling strata to be concentrated into a diminishing mass of air. Computer simulations predicted that the temperature of the air would increase rapidly as the roof descends, reaching values that are capable of igniting either methane or coal dust. This thesis concentrates on a series of laboratory tests involving the compression of mixtures of air, methane and coal dust under a falling weight and while allowing controlled escape of the mixture. The transient responses on pressure and temperature sensors were recorded. In addition to an analysis of those records, the thesis highlights those conditions in which ignitions occurred.","abstract_html":"When a large area of open gob collapses suddenly, a windblast is produced that can cause considerable damage throughout the infrastructure of a mine. In a few cases, the windblast has been accompanied by ignitions of methane and/or coal dust. Analytical and numerical analyses investigated the transient behavior of the air through the small time period during which the roof is falling. This is sufficiently short to allow adiabatic compression of the air, i.e. negligible heat transfer to rock surfaces. Controlled escape of the air via interconnecting entries limits the build-up of air pressure. However, this same phenomenum causes the potential energy of the falling strata to be concentrated into a diminishing mass of air. Computer simulations predicted that the temperature of the air would increase rapidly as the roof descends, reaching values that are capable of igniting either methane or coal dust. This thesis concentrates on a series of laboratory tests involving the compression of mixtures of air, methane and coal dust under a falling weight and while allowing controlled escape of the mixture. The transient responses on pressure and temperature sensors were recorded. In addition to an analysis of those records, the thesis highlights those conditions in which ignitions occurred.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Lin, Wei"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Mining and Minerals Engineering","degree_department":"Mining and Minerals Engineering","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["McPherson, Malcolm J."],"committee_members":["Karfakis, Mario G.","Karmis, Michael E."],"year":1997,"date_issued":"1997-05-01","date_published":"1997-05-01","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:43Z","subjects":["methane","dust","compression","explosion","experiments"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-4759949751281"],"render_values":[{"text":"etd-4759949751281","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/36740","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["McPherson, Malcolm J."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Karfakis, Mario G.","Karmis, Michael E."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Mining and Minerals Engineering"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Lin, Wei"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-03-14T20:51:38Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-03-14T20:51:38Z","1997-05-01"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["1997-05-01"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Mining and Minerals Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["methane","dust","compression","explosion","experiments"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-4759949751281"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/36740"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["When a large area of open gob collapses suddenly, a windblast is produced that can cause considerable damage throughout the infrastructure of a mine. In a few cases, the windblast has been accompanied by ignitions of methane and/or coal dust. Analytical and numerical analyses investigated the transient behavior of the air through the small time period during which the roof is falling. This is sufficiently short to allow adiabatic compression of the air, i.e. negligible heat transfer to rock surfaces. Controlled escape of the air via interconnecting entries limits the build-up of air pressure. However, this same phenomenum causes the potential energy of the falling strata to be concentrated into a diminishing mass of air. Computer simulations predicted that the temperature of the air would increase rapidly as the roof descends, reaching values that are capable of igniting either methane or coal dust. This thesis concentrates on a series of laboratory tests involving the compression of mixtures of air, methane and coal dust under a falling weight and while allowing controlled escape of the mixture. The transient responses on pressure and temperature sensors were recorded. In addition to an analysis of those records, the thesis highlights those conditions in which ignitions occurred."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Ignition of Methane and Coal Dust by Air Compression - The Experimental Proof"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["McPherson, Malcolm J."],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Karfakis, Mario G.","Karmis, Michael E."],"dc:contributor.department":["Mining and Minerals Engineering"],"dc:creator":["Lin, Wei"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2014-03-14T20:51:38Z"],"dc:date.available":["2014-03-14T20:51:38Z","1997-05-01"],"dc:date.issued":["1997-05-01"],"dc:description.abstract":["When a large area of open gob collapses suddenly, a windblast is produced that can cause considerable damage throughout the infrastructure of a mine. 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