Modeling on the Effect of Heat Exchanger Submersion on Controlling  Spontaneous Combustion in A Coal Pile

Jeri At Thabari; Syailendra Supit; Wahyu Nirbito; Yuswan Muharam; Yulianto Sulistyo  Nugroho

Authors

Jeri At Thabari Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia
Syailendra Supit Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia
Wahyu Nirbito Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia
Yuswan Muharam Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia
Yulianto Sulistyo Nugroho Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia

Keywords:

Spontaneous combustion, Coal pile, Modeling, Immersed heat exchanger

Abstract

Spontaneous combustion of coal has been well-known as a problem faced by coal industries, especially in storing and trans-shipping processes. The negative impacts of this phenomenon have led to several hazardous incidents and degrading product quality. Several methods have been researched to minimize the impacts; one of the proposed ways is immersing heat exchangers inside the coal stockpile. An experiment was conducted to analyze the cooling effect of an immersed simple heat exchanger made of a copper coil. By varying the number of windings, the experiment showed a significant decrease in pile temperature due to the immersed heat exchanger. This work continues exploring the possibility of applying the method by observing and analyzing the simulation model. COMSOL Multiphysics was used to model the physics phenomena that occur within the coal reactor. The effect of the heat exchanger surface area was studied from the model to observe the heat propagation within the coal reactor. The vast reach of heat propagation from the heat exchanger through the coal pile on the simulation was promisingly showing that this method was useful to limit the occurrence of spontaneous fire in coal piles.