Morehead State University, Morehead, KY 40351, USA.
Sci Total Environ. 2010 Mar 1;408(7):1628-33. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2009.12.005. Epub 2010 Jan 13.
Carbon dioxide (CO(2)), carbon monoxide (CO), and mercury (Hg) emissions were quantified for two eastern Kentucky coal-seam fires, the Truman Shepherd fire in Floyd County and the Ruth Mullins fire in Perry County. This study is one of the first to estimate gas emissions from coal fires using field measurements at gas vents. The Truman Shepherd fire emissions are nearly 1400t CO(2)/yr and 16kg Hg/yr resulting from a coal combustion rate of 450-550t/yr. The sum of CO(2) emissions from seven vents at the Ruth Mullins fire is 726+/-72t/yr, suggesting that the fire is consuming about 250-280t coal/yr. Total Ruth Mullins fire CO and Hg emissions are estimated at 21+/-1.8t/yr and >840+/-170g/yr, respectively. The CO(2) emissions are environmentally significant, but low compared to coal-fired power plants; for example, 3.9x10(6)t CO(2)/yr for a 514-MW boiler in Kentucky. Using simple calculations, CO(2) and Hg emissions from coal-fires in the U.S. are estimated at 1.4x10(7)-2.9x10(8)t/yr and 0.58-11.5t/yr, respectively. This initial work indicates that coal fires may be an important source of CO(2), CO, Hg and other atmospheric constituents.
对东肯塔基州的两处煤层火灾——弗洛伊德县的特鲁曼·谢泼德火灾和佩里县的露丝·马林斯火灾——的二氧化碳（CO2）、一氧化碳（CO）和汞（Hg）排放量进行了量化。本研究首次使用气体通风口的现场测量来估算煤火的气体排放量。特鲁曼·谢泼德火灾的排放量接近 1400 吨/年的 CO2 和 16 公斤/年的 Hg，这是由于煤炭燃烧率为 450-550 吨/年。露丝·马林斯火灾七个通风口的 CO2 排放量总和为 726+/-72 吨/年，表明火灾每年消耗约 250-280 吨煤炭。露丝·马林斯火灾的总 CO 和 Hg 排放量估计分别为 21+/-1.8 吨/年和>840+/-170 克/年。CO2 排放量对环境有重要意义，但与燃煤电厂相比较低；例如，肯塔基州一台 514 兆瓦的锅炉每年排放 3.9x10(6)吨 CO2。通过简单计算，美国煤火的 CO2 和 Hg 排放量估计分别为 1.4x10(7)-2.9x10(8)吨/年和 0.58-11.5 吨/年。这项初步研究表明，煤火可能是 CO2、CO、Hg 和其他大气成分的重要来源。
