At 14:40 01/04/03 +0100, you wrote:
>There was a article in New Scientist a month or three ago about fires buring
>in coal seams around the world - it may be available online via
>http://www.newscientist.co.uk or alternatively, if not there then let me
>know and I'll scan in the article and mail it to you. The reasons were (I
>think) accidental ignition, forest fires for open seams on the surface and
>there may have been one or two more.
>
>One thing I've noticed - you mentioed fires in coal tips rather than in coal
>seams yet everyone seems to be commenting on fires below ground - is this
>what you meant or do you actually mean fires on tips outside?
>
>Andrew.
Fire was (and is) a common feature of colliery shale heaps. The phenomenon
is common in the Scottish Coalfield, so much so that for the best of the
20th Century burnt colliery shale was a commonly used construction
material, best illustrated by the red ash football pitches that use to
dominate Glasgow and Lanarkshire. The shale when the tip has burnt out is
typically coloured pink to orange and has the appearance and some of the
qualities of crushed brick. I believe that the cause of the fire was the
quantity of pyritic sulphur found in the shales and blackband ironstones
tipped with low rank coal waste (itself liable to Spontaneous Combustion).
The former Polkemmet Colliery closed in 1984 is one of the best examples.
The site was abandoned by British Coal (disgracefully with no attempt to
restore any of the site) and is now owned by the Coal Authority. The site
is dominated by a series of massive shale bings (Scots for
coal/oilshale/ironstone spoil heap) the biggest of which has a massive deep
seated fire. The fire is intense enough to burn with flames at the surface,
occasionally setting fire to the local moors and forestry. The fumes are
also a source of local nuisance (a smell best described as essence of
Coallite plant!). The bings actually have relatively low coal contents (<5%
I think, making them uneconomic even ten years ago to recover the coal by
washing)
My favorite burning bing however is Pennyvennie No.7 which towers over the
east side of the town of Dalmellington in Ayrshire. The tip was built on
the side of the valley and presents itself to the town as a cone (the town
folk insisted the bing stayed but when British Coal Opencast suggested that
they might restore it ..... a fine testament to human labour!). As you
approach from Patna and take the back road through Brunton on a cold
winters morning a little wisp of steam can sometimes be seen rising from
the tip of the cone, making it look a little like Ayrshire's own Vesuvius.
Warm water springs issue even from it's base.
Graham
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