Analysis of the Risks, and the Mitigation of Heating and Combustion in Coal Slag Heaps

Analysis of the Risks, and the Mitigation of Heating and Combustion in Coal Slag Heaps | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Analysis of the Risks, and the Mitigation of Heating and Combustion in Coal Slag Heaps Philippe Gombert, Jean-Marie Davesne, Marwan Al Heib This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4568535/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The coal extraction since 1830 has produced considerable amounts of mining waste. When stored in slag heaps, this waste that can sometimes heat up and then combust. This then results in potentially dangerous phenomena likely to impact humans and the environment: burns, pollution, fire, explosion, instability. This heating and its progression towards combustion can arise from internal causes (self-heating linked to exothermic processes of oxidation and hydration of coal and/or sulphide minerals) or external causes (natural or accidental fires, lightning, short circuits, etc.). In order to quantify the types of risks associated to the heating and combustion a litterature review was carried out. We began by assessing the total number of coal slag heaps built worldwide, and then the proportion that are (or have been) heating or burning. This analysis identified 180,000 coal slag heaps built since the start of coal extraction, of which, according to an international state-of-the-art review and the results of a questionnaire sent to over a hundred people, about a third are (or have been) heating or burning. Here, the main initiating mechanisms of these processes are presented, the feared events they trigger, and the resulting potentially dangerous phenomena for humans and the environment. These include safety issues (burns, explosions, instabilities), health issues (air or water pollution, olfactory pollution) and/or environmental issues (release of ecotoxic compounds, acid mists or greenhouse gas emissions). Then, a risk analysis based on this data is produced, and an inventory of the main mitigation methods (covering, excavation, monitoring, etc.) that make it possible to effectively treat these slag heaps. This data is illustrated by a few examples from two coal-producing European countries (Poland and the Czech Republic) that we visited recently. coal waste heap combustion self-heating risk analysis Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4568535","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":317335816,"identity":"603123e1-f048-462e-907d-69957812cdab","order_by":0,"name":"Philippe Gombert","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"French National Institute for Industrial Environment and Risks","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Philippe","middleName":"","lastName":"Gombert","suffix":""},{"id":317335817,"identity":"dcd798e6-4098-45f6-b4cf-e2981a90bdea","order_by":1,"name":"Jean-Marie Davesne","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"French National Institute for Industrial Environment and Risks","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jean-Marie","middleName":"","lastName":"Davesne","suffix":""},{"id":317335819,"identity":"54ec412a-d19b-4087-a5a0-dcce01bf0326","order_by":2,"name":"Marwan Al Heib","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"French National Institute for Industrial Environment and Risks","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Marwan","middleName":"Al","lastName":"Heib","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-06-12 08:06:33","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4568535/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4568535/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":59582522,"identity":"6a4a3884-8851-40c7-ba1a-4ef07b5ba6af","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-07-03 12:54:15","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1232343,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"heatingriskscoalslagheaps.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4568535/v1_covered_762dbdc0-98c0-413a-9e9f-030ac72af6a2.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Analysis of the Risks, and the Mitigation of Heating and Combustion in Coal Slag Heaps","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"coal, waste, heap, combustion, self-heating, risk analysis","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4568535/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4568535/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe coal extraction since 1830 has produced considerable amounts of mining waste. 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