Fire Hazards in Coal Mining

Dear Colleagues,

The underground extraction of coal is characterized by the occurrence of numerous natural and technical hazards, including methane and coal dust explosions, rockbursts, fire, water inrush, roof falls, and heat stress. In addition, the geological and mining factors, the continuous increase in the mining depth, and specific working conditions significantly affect the safety of work in the mine. Despite the significant advances made regarding improvements in this area, fires, along with methane hazards, coal dust explosions and rockbursts, remain one of the most prevalent and dangerous hazards in coal mining. We want to pay particular attention to the factors that contribute to the occurrence of underground fires, both endogenous and exogenous, and the issues associated with preventing fire hazards. Fire prevention should be a priority for underground mines as they can lead to entrapment, smoke inhalation, serious or fatal burns, asphyxiation and other serious consequences such as explosions. It should be emphasized that, in addition to the threat to human health and life, fires cause extensive economic losses that are often decisive for the future of the mine. Firefighting actions, in the case of active extinguishing, require the partial suspension of mining works in part of the mine, and in the case of passive extinguishing, it is necessary to isolate the excavations; as a result, very large fixed assets and coal reserves often remain in the field of fire.

Therefore, we are pleased to invite researchers from across the world to contribute original research articles and reviews addressing a wide range of issues related to fires in coal mining to this Special Issue of Fire, entitled “Fire Hazards in Coal Mining”. Research areas of interest may include, but are not limited to, the detection of coal spontaneous combustion processes and their control, the techniques used to limit the development of underground fire, the exploitation of seams prone to spontaneous combustion, the selection of a rational system of ventilation and combating self-heating processes, and problems associated with the rescue of miners from areas affected by fire and smoky regions.

Prof. Dr. Stanisław Prusek
Dr. Aleksandra Koteras
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fire is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• underground coal mines
• fire detection and fire dynamics
• flame, smoke, and/or gas detection
• model-based fire analysis
• endogenous and exogenous fires
• coal spontaneous combustion.