In spite of recent moves to wean the world of fossil fuels,coal remains the main source of power in many countries.Coal yards are prone to spontaneous ignition,a problem faced in every country that stores or transport...In spite of recent moves to wean the world of fossil fuels,coal remains the main source of power in many countries.Coal yards are prone to spontaneous ignition,a problem faced in every country that stores or transports coal.Depending on the environment-temperature,ventilation,and the rank of the coal-heating and self-ignition can be a longer or shorter process,but the possibility can never be entirely dismissed.A plethora of studies have modelled this oxidation behavior and proposed countermeasures.Most often,human intervention is necessary,which is both slow and dangerous for the frefghters involved.In this study,we propose to build a complete frefghting solution which is mounted on a number of towers sufcient to cover the area of an open coal yard,complete with redundancy.Each tower includes an inexpensive infrared detector,a water dispenser and a controller programmed to identify areas of elevated temperature,and actuate the dispenser.The heat direction algorithm calculates the parameters to position the water dispenser so that it covers the area.A prototype has been built from inexpensive components to demonstrate the efectiveness at detecting and extinguishing arising fres,and a solution has been costed for the coal yard in the case study.This work has been conducted in collaboration with the managers of the coal yard of a power plant.展开更多
文摘In spite of recent moves to wean the world of fossil fuels,coal remains the main source of power in many countries.Coal yards are prone to spontaneous ignition,a problem faced in every country that stores or transports coal.Depending on the environment-temperature,ventilation,and the rank of the coal-heating and self-ignition can be a longer or shorter process,but the possibility can never be entirely dismissed.A plethora of studies have modelled this oxidation behavior and proposed countermeasures.Most often,human intervention is necessary,which is both slow and dangerous for the frefghters involved.In this study,we propose to build a complete frefghting solution which is mounted on a number of towers sufcient to cover the area of an open coal yard,complete with redundancy.Each tower includes an inexpensive infrared detector,a water dispenser and a controller programmed to identify areas of elevated temperature,and actuate the dispenser.The heat direction algorithm calculates the parameters to position the water dispenser so that it covers the area.A prototype has been built from inexpensive components to demonstrate the efectiveness at detecting and extinguishing arising fres,and a solution has been costed for the coal yard in the case study.This work has been conducted in collaboration with the managers of the coal yard of a power plant.
