Mining Publication: Modeling Carbon Monoxide Spread in Underground Mine Fires

Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning is a leading cause of mine fire fatalities in underground mines. To reduce the hazard of CO poisoning in underground mines, it is important to accurately predict the spread of CO in underground mine entries when a fire occurs. This paper presents a study on modeling CO spread in underground mine fires using both the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) and the MFIRE programs. The FDS model simulating part of the mine ventilation network was calibrated using CO concentration data from full-scale mine fire tests. The model was then used to investigate the effect of airflow leakage on CO concentration reduction in the mine entries. The inflow of fresh air at the leakage location was found to cause significant CO reduction. MFIRE simulation was conducted to predict the CO spread in the entire mine ventilation network using both a constant heat release rate and a dynamic fire source created from FDS. The results from both FDS and MFIRE simulations are compared and the implications of the improved MFIRE capability are discussed.