Smoke stratification in a mine drift with a burning mining vehicle

ABSTRACT A fire in a mine will pose risks to mining personnel, where the smoke spread will be one of the risks. The smoke spread will be largely determined by the stratification. This paper studies the smoke stratification in a mine with a burning vehicle, for varying surface roughness, surface material, and impact of the vehicle. Datawas provided from full-scale experiments in an underground mine. The proposed fire gas temperature correlations successfully captured the smoke stratification in the mine and the influencing turbulence. A numerical model predicted thatnon-stratified conditions can be expected at shorter distances in a mine compared with a tunnel. Longer distances to non-stratified conditions can be expected for materials with low volumetric heat capacity. A long-lasting fire will result in longer distances to non-stratified conditions. With decreasing fire gas temperatures, the heated surface may slow down the decrease or even maintain the distances to non-stratified conditions.