A statistical analysis of coalmine fires and explosions in China

Large-scale coalmine accidents have occurred occasionally with great impact on society. To assess the characteristics of large-scale coalmine accidents, a database involving 782 Chinese accidents from 1950 to 2016 was built and analysed. The historical change of large-scale coalmine accidents was divided into four stages according to the accident number per year. Explosions and fires were the primary causes and deemed to be thermodynamically driven accidents due to their identical thermochemical essence of combustion, interchangeability and producing similar gaseous hazards. By constructing an analysis framework, some useful features were derived from the database. About 55% of the gas explosions occurred in coalmines with low methane-gas emission rates. Coal dust explosions were responsible for about 59% of the fires and explosions with over 100 casualties. The interchangeability of fires and explosions led to 79% of the large-scale coalmine fires and explosions in recent years. As ignition sources, blasting work, self-heating and friction and impact caused 86% of the fires and explosions from 2007 to 2016. About 44% of fires and explosions happened in coalmines with central ventilation systems. About 85% of fires and explosions concentrated on the locations of coalface, heading face and roadway. (C) 2018 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.