An innovative way of managing underground coal mines fire

Coal fires, whether surface or subsurface, are a widespread problem in most of the coal producing countries, including India. A huge quantity of coals is blocked and is also being lost every day on account of such fires. Jharia coalfield region of India is one such area which is under fire for more than 100 years. The direct and indirect consequences of this fire can be easily visualized through the numerous disasters that have happened in the past. One of the several environmental impacts of this fire is subsidence. Subsidence causes crack development that supports supply of oxygen and this promotes fire. So far, enough effort has been made to find concrete solution to this fire problems but nothing much could be done. This paper is about the development of an innovative technology utilizing waste of thermal power plants. The proposed technology uses basic chemistry principles and the product owing to its special characteristics of filling the cracks stops the supply of oxygen, and this way allows fire to extinguish with time. Thus, valuable coal resource can be saved for the future generation. This technology will also replace sand which has been so far under use for controlling fire and stowing of underground mines. The thermal infrared remote sensing technique will be used to monitor the coal fires and performance of the proposed technology. This work has got environmental significance as it will help prevent huge economic losses and environmental disasters.