Abstract The Lotts Creek coal mine fire is burning in abandoned works of the Pennsylvanian Hazard No. 9 coal, Perry County, Kentucky. Over the few months separating sampling trips, the… Click to show full abstract
Abstract The Lotts Creek coal mine fire is burning in abandoned works of the Pennsylvanian Hazard No. 9 coal, Perry County, Kentucky. Over the few months separating sampling trips, the fire showed a definite migration to the south. Several vents sampled on the first trip were extinct on the second trip. The flux of major gases varies from 1100 to 440,000 mg/s/m 2 CO 2 and 2 CO, with the gas temperature being one of the principal drivers of the emissions variations; the higher the temperature, the more CO 2 produced. Mercury, also showing wide variation, from 45 to 740 ng/s/m 2 , could not be measured at all vents due to temperature limitations inherent in the instrument. In addition to CO 2 , CO, and Hg, a number of gases among the volatile aliphatic and volatile aromatic compounds are emitted in potentially dangerous amounts.
               
Click one of the above tabs to view related content.