Thermal surface characteristics of coal fires 1 results of in-situ measurements

Natural underground coal fires are fires in coal seams occurring subsurface. The fires are ignited through a process named spontaneous combustion, which occurs based on a natural reaction but is usually triggered through human interaction. Coal mining activities expose coal to the air. This leads to the exothermal oxidation of the carbon in the coal with the air's oxygen to CO₂ and – under certain circumstances – to spontaneous combustion. Coal fires occur in many countries world wide – however, currently the Chinese coal mining industry faces the biggest problems with coal fires. Coal fires destroy the valuable resource coal and furthermore lead to many environmental degradation phenomena such as the deterioration of surrounding vegetation, land subsidence and the emission of toxic gasses (CO, N₂O). They additionally contribute to the emission of green house relevant gasses such as CO₂ and CH₄ to the atmosphere.In this paper we present thermal characteristics of coal fires as measured in-situ during a field campaign to the Wuda coal fire area in south-central Inner Mongolia, China. Thermal characteristics include temperature anomaly measurements at the surface, spatial surface temperature profiles of fire areas and unaffected background areas, diurnal temperature profiles, and temperature measurements inside of coal fire induced cracks in the overlying bedrock. For all the measurements the effects of uneven solar heating through influences of slope and aspect are considered.Our findings show that coal fires result in strong or subtle thermal surface anomalies. Especially the latter can easily be influenced by heating of the surrounding background material through solar influences. Temperature variation of background rocks with different albedo, slope, aspect or vegetation cover can substantially influence the detectability of thermal anomalies. In the worst case coal fire related thermal anomalies can be completely masked by solar patterns during the daytime. Thus, night-time analysis is the most suitable for thermal anomaly mapping of underground coal fires, although this is not always feasible. The heat of underground coal fires only progresses very slowly through conduction in the rock material. Anomalies of coal fires completely covered by solid unfractured bedrock are very weak and were only measured during the night. The thermal pattern of underground coal fires manifested on the surface during the daytime is thus the pattern of cracks and vents, which occur due to the volume loss underground and which support radiation and convective energy transport of hot gasses. Inside coal fire temperatures can hardly be measured and can only be recorded if the glowing coal is exposed through a wider crack in the overlaying bedrock. Direct coal fire temperatures measured ranged between 233 °C and 854 °C. The results presented can substantially support the planning of thermal mapping campaigns, analyses of coal fire thermal anomalies in remotely sensed data, and can provide initial and boundary conditions for coal fire related numerical modeling.In a second paper named “Thermal Characteristics of Coal Fires 2: results of measurements on simulated coal fires” [Zhang J., Kuenzer C., Tetzlaff A., Oettl D., Zhukov B., Wagner W., 2007. Thermal Characteristics of Coal Fires 2: Result of measurements on simulated coal fires. Accepted for publication at Journal of Applied Geophysics. doi:10.1016/j.jappgeo.2007.08.003] we report about thermal characteristics of simulated coal fires simulated under simplified conditions. The simulated set up allowed us to measure even more parameters under undisturbed conditions — especially inside fire temperatures. Furthermore we could demonstrate the differences between open surface coal fires and covered underground coal fires. Thermal signals of coal fires in near range thermal remotely sensed imagery from an observing tower and from an airplane are presented and discussed.     

Town of Tornio in November 1898: a rare survey of earthquake damage in Finland

This study investigates the effects of the Fennoscandian earthquake that occurred on 4 November 1898 (GMT) on Tornio in Northern Finland. The extra fire inspection conducted in the town on 21, 22 and 23 November 1898 provided insight into the failures caused by this low-magnitude earthquake. The building stock was of timber with masonry stone components. More than 30 heating units sustained damage. The macroseismic intensity in Tornio is estimated at I = 6 (European Macroseismic Scale).     

Energy demands for seismic design against low‐cycle fatigue

A seismic design procedure that does not take into account the maximum and cumulative plastic deformation demands that a structure is likely to undergo during severe ground motion could lead to unsatisfactory performance. In spite of this, current design procedures do not take into account explicitly the effect of low‐cycle fatigue. Based on the high correlation that exists between the strength reduction factor and the energy demand in earthquake‐resistant structures, simple procedures can be formulated to estimate the cumulative plastic deformation demands for design purposes. Several issues should be addressed during the use of plastic energy within a practical performance‐based seismic design methodology. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A non‐baseline algorithm for damage locating in flexural structures using dynamic distributed macro‐strain responses

The concept of distributed strain‐sensing techniques has been proposed in our recent research, which was dedicated to utilizing the strain distributions throughout the full or partial areas of structures to detect arbitrary and unforeseen damage. An algorithm not requiring a detailed analytical model is presented for damage locating in flexural structures through the direct use of dynamic responses recorded by distributed long‐gauge strain sensors. The modal macro‐strain vector (MMSV), which has been proven to have a mapping relation with displacement mode shape, can be extracted directly from macro‐strain time‐series data, from which a damage evaluating index can be derived and used as an indicator for locating damage. Numerical examples are simulated to verify the sensitivity and effectiveness of the index in different cases. Furthermore, experimental investigations on a cantilevered beam with various long‐gauge fibre optic sensors placements are carried out to examine the feasibility and applicability of the proposed method. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A new approach of selecting real input ground motions for seismic design: The most unfavourable real seismic design ground motions

This paper presents a new way of selecting real input ground motions for seismic design and analysis of structures based on a comprehensive method for estimating the damage potential of ground motions, which takes into consideration of various ground motion parameters and structural seismic damage criteria in terms of strength, deformation, hysteretic energy and dual damage of Park & Ang damage index. The proposed comprehensive method fully involves the effects of the intensity, frequency content and duration of ground motions and the dynamic characteristics of structures. Then, the concept of the most unfavourable real seismic design ground motion is introduced. Based on the concept, the most unfavourable real seismic design ground motions for rock, stiff soil, medium soil and soft soil site conditions are selected in terms of three typical period ranges of structures. The selected real strong motion records are suitable for seismic analysis of important structures whose failure or collapse will be avoided at a higher level of confidence during the strong earthquake, as they can cause the greatest damage to structures and thereby result in the highest damage potential from an extended real ground motion database for a given site. In addition, this paper also presents the real input design ground motions with medium damage potential, which can be used for the seismic analysis of structures located at the area with low and moderate seismicity. The most unfavourable real seismic design ground motions are verified by analysing the seismic response of structures. It is concluded that the most unfavourable real seismic design ground motion approach can select the real ground motions that can result in the highest damage potential for a given structure and site condition, and the real ground motions can be mainly used for structures whose failure or collapse will be avoided at a higher level of confidence during the strong earthquake. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

从上海市热岛演变看城市绿化的重要意义

近40年来，上海城市热岛面积扩大了7－8倍，强度增强了一倍，导致了高温灾害的增加。上海热岛的迅速扩张和增强始于20世纪80年代，与上海城市的建设有明显的对应关系。如何合理规划城市建设，减缓热岛效应影响，以保证上海城市的健康和可持续发展，已成为一个迫切需要解决的问题。近几年来显示出的上海中心城区热岛强度减弱趋势表明，城市绿化建设对减缓城市热岛效应具有重要意义。     

721矿山南铀矿石微生物槽浸的适应性实验研究

以山南铀矿石为研究对象，探讨了微生物槽浸铀实验过程中有关参数（Fe^3 ,Fe^2 ,pH,Eh,U)的变化规律。在此基础上，评价了山南铀矿石微生物槽浸的适应性。     

低渗致密砂岩气田储层损害评价及保护措施

储层孔隙类型、孔隙结构、粘土矿物类型和含量等是造成气层受伤害的潜在因素 ,而外来固相、滤液以及生产或作业压差、生产时间等工程因素也可造成或加重对气层的伤害程度 ,因此 ,低渗致密气田 (藏 )的开发效果在很大程度上依赖于开发技术水平的提高。应用岩心评价实验、时间推移测井、生产测井以及试井等方法 ,评价了河南东濮凹陷白庙、文 2 3等气田低渗致密砂岩储层的敏感性及与外来液的配伍性 ,分析了导致或加重对气层造成伤害的工程因素。在气田开发的全过程中 ,有针对性地制定出对气层进行保护的配套措施 ,减少了对储层的伤害 ,充分发挥了气层的潜力 ,提高了气田的开发效果 ,也为同类气田提供了借鉴。     

黄陵矿区洛河组砂岩水文地质特征及水资源开发与保护

根据大量的供水勘察资料，从洛河组砂岩所处的区域构造位置、它的分布与厚度变化规律、孔隙裂隙特征、水力性质、动态变化、水质特征、环境水文地质条件诸方面进行了详细地论述；分析了洛河组砂岩地下水的补给、径流、排泄条件，指出洛河组砂岩分布面积广、厚度大，地下水丰富且水质良好，具备形成大型水源地的条件。同时分析了煤炭资源开发、人工开采、林业生产等可能对水源地造成不利影响的因素，提出了开发和保护水资源的建议和措施。     

河北省蔚县矿区构造特征及断裂构造发育规律

运用现代构造地质研究方法，对蔚县矿区构造特征及断裂构造发育规律进行了研究。并揭示了矿区构造成因机制及演化历史。