Modeling and Simulation of the Methane Risk in the Mining Production Process

Abstract The mining production process is of particular importance for the area of Upper Silesia, as well as a very significant impact on the economy of the entire country. One of the most common and most dangerous threats to this process is the methane hazard. It is related to the presence of methane in coal seams, which under appropriate conditions is a flammable and explosive gas. Events related to the methane hazard constitute a huge threat to the life and health of the crew as well as the infrastructure and equipment of excavations. Therefore, they have a huge impact on the efficiency of the entire mining production process. In order to ensure the safety and continuity of the production process, it is necessary to prevent the formation of dangerous methane concentrations in the area covered by the operation. One of the tools that can be used to assess the state of methane hazard are model studies supported by numerical simulation. Based on these studies, the article analyzes the distribution of methane concentration in the mining area. This area included an actual mining excavation in one of the hard coal mines. The model tests were carried out with the use of the finite volume method in the ANSYS Fluent software. The obtained results can be used for preventive measures and constitute an important source of information for the assessment of the methane hazard state.