Modeling on the Effect of Heat Exchanger Submersion on Controlling Spontaneous Combustion in A Coal Pile

Jeri At Thabari, Syailendra Supit, Wahyu Nirbito, Yuswan Muharam, Yulianto Sulistyo Nugroho

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Spontaneous combustion of coal has been well-known as a problem faced by coal industries, especially in storing and trans-shipping processes. The negative impacts of this phenomenon have led to several hazardous incidents and degrading product quality. Several methods have been researched to minimize the impacts; one of the proposed ways is immersing heat exchangers inside the coal stockpile. An experiment was conducted to analyze the cooling effect of an immersed simple heat exchanger made of a copper coil. By varying the number of windings, the experiment showed a significant decrease in pile temperature due to the immersed heat exchanger. This work continues exploring the possibility of applying the method by observing and analyzing the simulation model. COMSOL Multiphysics was used to model the physics phenomena that occur within the coal reactor. The effect of the heat exchanger surface area was studied from the model to observe the heat propagation within the coal reactor. The vast reach of heat propagation from the heat exchanger through the coal pile on the simulation was promisingly showing that this method was useful to limit the occurrence of spontaneous fire in coal piles.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)158-164
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Advanced Research in Fluid Mechanics and Thermal Sciences
Volume81
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Keywords

  • Coal pile
  • Immersed heat exchanger
  • Modeling
  • Spontaneous combustion

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