Applied Sciences (Sep 2017)

ECOAL Project—Delivering Solutions for Integrated Monitoring of Coal-Related Fires Supported on Optical Fiber Sensing Technology

  • Joana Ribeiro,
  • Duarte Viveiros,
  • João Ferreira,
  • Alexia Lopez-Gil,
  • Alejandro Dominguez-Lopez,
  • Hugo F. Martins,
  • Rosa Perez-Herrera,
  • Aitor Lopez-Aldaba,
  • Lia Duarte,
  • Ana Pinto,
  • Sonia Martin-Lopez,
  • Hardy Baierl,
  • Raphael Jamier,
  • Sébastien Rougier,
  • Jean-Louis Auguste,
  • Ana Cláudia Teodoro,
  • José Alberto Gonçalves,
  • Oscar Esteban,
  • José Luís Santos,
  • Philippe Roy,
  • Manuel Lopez-Amo,
  • Miguel Gonzalez-Herraez,
  • José Manuel Baptista,
  • Deolinda Flores

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/app7090956
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 9
p. 956

Abstract

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The combustion of coal wastes resulting from mining is of particular environmental concern, and the importance of proper management involving real-time assessment of their status and identification of probable evolution scenarios is recognized. Continuous monitoring of the combustion temperature and emission levels of certain gases allows for the possibility of planning corrective actions to minimize their negative impact on the surroundings. Optical fiber technology is well suited to this purpose and here we describe the main attributes and results obtained from a fiber optic sensing system projected to gather data on distributed temperature and gas emissions in these harsh environments.

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