Jharia coal fires may burn hotter, emit more greenhouse gases, Pg13

Key Highlights:

• A recent study indicates that underground fires in the Jharia coal fields may burn hotter and release more greenhouse gases than previously thought.
• Researchers from the U.K. and India, including CSIR-CIMFR, documented collapsed structures stretching over 100 m vertically, venting hot gases.
• The study focused on the Ena, Bastacolla, and Tisera collieries between 2018-2023, using numerical modeling and mineralogical analysis.
• The global warming potential of Jharia’s fires is estimated at up to 748.72 MT of CO2-equivalent per year.

Detailed Insights:

• Underground fires in Jharia are triggered by natural oxidation reactions when mining exposes coal to oxygen, leading to decades-long smoldering.
• The study identified paralava and a unique fused rock called "birianiite" within the collapsed structures, indicating extremely high temperatures.
• Computer simulations suggest that large, isolated collapse structures could reach temperatures approaching 4,000 C under certain conditions.
• Fugitive emissions from uncontrolled coal fires like those in Jharia are often excluded from global greenhouse gas audits, highlighting a gap in monitoring.
• The model's emissions estimate depends on assumptions about the extent of burning and excludes some real-world processes, which could alter the temperature estimate.

Scientific/Technical Concepts Involved:

• Oxidation: A chemical reaction where a substance combines with oxygen, releasing heat.
• Greenhouse Gases: Gases that trap heat in the atmosphere and contribute to global warming.
• Global Warming Potential: A measure of how much heat a greenhouse gas traps in the atmosphere relative to carbon dioxide.