Environmental influence of gaseous emissions from self-heating coal waste dumps in Silesia, Poland.

ABSTRACT: Gaseous emissions from seven self-heating coal waste dumps in two large coal mining basins, Upper and Lower Silesia (Poland), were investigated by gas chromatography (GC-FID/TCD), and the results were correlated with on-site thermal activity, stage of self-heating as assessed by thermal mapping, efflorescences, and surface and subsurface temperatures. Though typical gases at sites without thermal activity are dominated by atmospheric nitrogen and oxygen, methane and carbon dioxide are present in concentrations that many times exceed atmospheric values. On average, their concentrations are 42.7-7160 ppm, respectively. These are levels considered harmful to health and show that coal waste fire can be dangerous for some years after extinction. At thermally active sites, concentrations of CH

SUBMITTER: Fabianska M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6510838 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature