Niroj Kumar MohalikCentral Institute of Mining and Fuel Research | CIMFR · Department of Mine Fire, Ventilation and Miners Safety
Niroj Kumar Mohalik
PhD
Looking for Teaching and Consultant job outside India
About
45
Publications
28,877
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219
Citations
Citations since 2017
Introduction
Thermal Analysis of coal/biomass/organic materials
Skills and Expertise
Additional affiliations
July 2021 - present
Position
- Professor (Engineering Sciences)
Description
- Teaching and Mentoring AcSIR students for their Master's degree courses and Ph.D. supervision
December 2020 - present
Position
- Senior Principal Scientist
Description
- Mine Fire Detection, Prevention and Control Mine Ventilation and Safety Mine Environment EIA/EMP Air and Noise Pollution
December 2014 - November 2020
Position
- Principal Investigator
Description
- Mine Fire Detection, Prevention and Control Mine Ventilation and Safety Mine Environment EIA/EMP Air and Noise Pollution
Education
October 2010 - November 2013
July 1999 - December 2000
Indian School of Mine
Field of study
- Environmental Science and Engineering
July 1996 - June 1999
Publications
Publications (45)
The increasing demand for coal and depletion of shallow depth reserves are pushing towards deeper mining. In deeper coal mines with multiseam workings, the problem of ventilation surges many folds primarily related to air quantity requirement, heat, humidity and spontaneous heating/fire in goaved (gobbed) out areas. The paper describes the design o...
![Fig. 1 Fatalities due to coal dust explosion from 1900-2020 [2, 3, 19-24]](profile/Asfar-Khan-5/publication/361639459/figure/fig1/AS:1172880654106627@1656647947995/Fatalities-due-to-coal-dust-explosion-from-1900-2020-2-3-19-24_Q320.jpg)
Coal is a low-cost and high-calorific-value fuel. The coal mining industry worldwide has been suffering from severe accidents due to coal dust explosion hazards since its inception. Statistically, it was observed that 12,489 fatalities had occurred in 104 reported mining accidents from coal dust explosions during 1900-2020. There are numerous metho...
Kinetic study of coal was carried out using simultaneous thermal analysis (STA) technique to assess the spontaneous combustion propensity of coal samples collected from various Indian coalfields having both fiery and non-fiery seams. The kinetic parameters were estimated by using both model-free and model-based analysis for both TGA & DSC data. The...
Firedamp and coal dust explosion constitute a lion’s share in mine accidents in a global mining scenario. This paper reports a list of mine explosion disasters since last two decades, a critical review of the different prevention and constructive measures, and its recent development to avoid firedamp and coal dust explosion. Preventive legislation...
Thermogravimetric analysis/differential scanning calorimeter (TGA/DSC) technique along with basic coal characteristics study is carried out for eighty coal samples of Indian coalfields, to determine spontaneous combustion propensity behaviour of coal. TGA study of coal samples indicates that there is an increase in the mass of coal samples in the t...
Spontaneous combustion of coal in stockpiles of power plants has a significant problem worldwide which leads to several health hazards, environmental pollution and coal loss. Spontaneous combustion coal stockpiles depend on both endogenous (coal characteristics) and exogenous parameters (stockpile geometry, wind speed, wind direction, local tempera...
Thermal power units are a major source of power generation in India. Belt
conveyor is the leading transportation system in a thermal power plant. Belt
conveyor fire in a thermal power plant breaks the chain of the transportation
system, stops the feeding to the boiler, and often leads to closure of the
plant, and thereby impacts the production for...
The spontaneous heating resulting into mine fire is an inherent problem in coal mining industry, which endangers lives of men in a mine. The paper describes four methods to determine spontaneous heating susceptibility of Indian coals. Crossing point temperature (CPT), a thermal method, widely used in Indian coal industry is described. A new electro...
![Fig. 5. Schematic of the Siwek 20-litre (after [14]).](profile/Santosh-Ray-2/publication/340890240/figure/fig5/AS:883854827073536@1587738820328/Schematic-of-the-Siwek-20-litre-after-14_Q320.jpg)
Mine disasters occur predominantly due to methane or coal dust explosion or a combination of both. Among the top ten worst coal mine disasters in India, nine are due to coal dust explosion. The current paper describes a general overview of the parameters causing dispersion leading to coal dust explosion, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simul...
The TG method is applied to eleven coal samples of varying rank collected from across the Jharia coalfield, India, to determine spontaneous heating susceptibility. Previous literature does not agree as to the TG experimental parameter that characterizes the spontaneous heating susceptibility of coal. A series of TG experiments were performed on tri...
Spontaneous combustion/fire and explosions occurring in the goaf area due to depillaring of thick coal seam (5–8 m) experiences significant loss to the mining industry. This ultimately causes destruction of natural resources and fatal accidents in India. Thus, it is threatening the safety of underground coal mines. This paper includes various labor...
Spontaneous combustion is one of the key issues in the blasting gallery (BG) method of coal mining. Earlier most of the BG panels have been sealed due to the occurrences of spontaneous heating during the extraction of the panel. This research paper describes a study on spontaneous heating/fire mechanism in depillaring panels of thick seam mining us...
The developed thick coal seams locked on standing bord and pillar development with a low percentage of extraction has been an enduring problem for Indian geo-mining condition due to strata control issues, methods of mining, equipment selection, ventilation and spontaneous combustion. The occurrences of goaf fire and explosions due to rise in goaf i...
Spontaneous combustion of Indian coals was investigated using sponcomb rig at University of Nottingham, UK to assess their susceptibility. In the present study authors have used eleven coal samples collected from the Jharia coalfield (JCF), India. Both thermal as well as gas profiles from sponcomb rig were studied critically to develop a modified c...
To meet the increased demand of coal, extraction of good quality of coal locked-up in pillars of thick seams may be one of the better options, provided problem of spontaneous heating is effectively addressed. Many mines are facing such difficulties due to occurrence of spontaneous heating while liquidating thick coal seam in general and Raniganj co...
Petrographic studies are commonly used categorise the potential utilisation of coals. Eleven coal samples from the jharia coalfield (JCF), india, were studied using petrographic techniques to investigate maceral content, reflectance, and textural characteristics. Multiple test samples of each coal were slowly oxidised under controlled laboratory co...
History of Indian coal mining is marred by disasters causing huge loss of human life. Mine disasters are predominantly due to methane or coal dust or a combination of both. Among top ten worst coal mine disasters in past nine disasters are due to explosion. The current paper describes a general overview into the parameters causing coal dust explosi...
![Figure 2. Conceptual model of coal fire having vent emission [32].](profile/Niroj-Kumar-Mohalik/publication/311087628/figure/fig1/AS:434130321186817@1480516142268/Conceptual-model-of-coal-fire-having-vent-emission-32_Q320.jpg)
There are a significant number of uncontrolled coal mine fires (primarily due to spontaneous combustion of coal), which are currently burning all over the world. These spontaneous combustion sources emit greenhouse gases (GHGs). A critical review reveals that there are no standard measurement methods to estimate GHG emissions from mine fire/spontan...
a Mine fire division, cSIr-central Institute of Mining and fuel research, dhanbad, India; b Process and environmental research division, faculty of engineering, university of nottingham, university Park campus, nottingham, uK ABSTRACT This paper presents a critical review of the different techniques developed to investigate the susceptibility of co...
Phenomenon of coal mine fire has a long history on international magnitude in the destruction of valuable natural resources. It dominantly contributes towards adverse impact on environment. Societal influence in terms of health and life hazard is one of the key factors in mine fire areas. This paper focused on socioeconomic and environmental impact...
Mine fire is a major problem for the Indian coal mining industry and exists since beginning of the mining. A huge amount of the prime coking coal reserves of different coalfields are blocked due to existence of fire and thus cannot be extracted without extinguishing it. Many approaches have been attempted in this direction to minimize this socio-te...
The Indian coal industry is currently facing a number of constraints (i.e. socio-economic, geotechnical and environmental issues) due to high demand of coal for industrial growth. In addition to the many potential geotechnical issues, the existence of extensive uncontrolled and concealed fires present a significant problem to the coal industry, the...
Coal mine fire problem occurs globally and endangering miners' life. It leads to environmental pollution as well as economic loss to the local and regional governance. Surface coal mine fire affected areas are generally detected by thermal survey of an area. Temperature observations through thermometer or thermocouple are used in most cases as trad...
The paper presents the review of application of three thermal techniques viz; differential thermal analysis (DTA), thermogravimetry (TG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC); for studying the susceptibility of coal to spontaneous heating and fire. It also critically analyses the experimental standards adopted by different researchers , while...
In bord and pillar method of mining, the panels are sealed off after depillaring. Depending upon the site
specific condition, 40 to 45 % coal are left in depillared panel as stook, loose coal left in goaf, hard coal on
floor and roof of the panel. The left out coals in goaf area start oxidation, and this leads to spontaneous
heating in side sealed...
The incidences of fire in Indian coal mines have a long history of over 140 years and the most important fire affected coalfields include- Jharia, Raniganj etc. Major causes of underground fire are considered to be spontaneous heating characteristics of coal. Regular monitoring of underground coalmines, liable to spontaneous heating is useful in te...
The application of liquid/gaseous nitrogen, which inhibits combustion for preventing, controlling and extinguishing mine fires, is now universally accepted for last 50 y. This paper presents the scientific relevance and selective criteria for use of N 2 in subsurface fire and reviews experiences of N 2 use in Indian coalmines for more than 20 y. Th...
A noise source radiates sound energy and will get attenuated to some extent until it reaches the receiver point.The five salient parameters for noise attenuation were considered here, e.g. geometric spreading, barrier, air absorption, ground effect, and meteorological effect. Algorithms of these attenuation parameters were evaluated based on the fo...
In the present era of computerisation, the technology vision ranges from real time data access for improving decision-making, to robotic mining. The ultimate vision of technology is the fully automated mine. When communicated to an end-user, the in-real-time information can provide accurate and timely answers to questions of how much, where, when,...
Since the advent of mechanised mining, the noise has become an integral part of the mining environment. As equipment becomes more powerful, noise, noise levels generally increase. Noise as an environmental factor has important implications for the worker population. The obvious implication is, of course, the potential for noise induced hearing loss...
Projects
Projects (4)
The Druk Green Power Corporation (DGPC), Bhutan has started exploratory tunnel (drift) work at Nyera Amari II Powerhouse at Martshala, Samdrup Jongkhar, Bhutan and presently, the exploratory drift of Neyra Ameri-II powerhouse is facing the problem of presence of methane in the tunnel. Hence, DGPC requested the CSIR-Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, Dhanbad for taking out the scientific study for the source of methane emission and re-establishment of ventilation in the tunnel for resuming of excavation work considering the safety measures.
CFD simulation study and determination of explosibility dust contant Kst for degree 3 coal mines in India
