Hi,
I live in Brazil and I work with a big company who stores coal in large piles (Bituminous coal) . Usually we have problems with spontaneous combustion. The seller said that we can't flood water when piles is getting fire. I want know why. I'll be grateful if you guys tell me more informations about what the major cause of spontaneous combustion of coal.

Thanks!!

Raphael:

There are literally thousands of articles on the subject of "spontaneous combustion of coal stockpiles". Use your favorite search engine to find them.

One such article is - http://www.saftek.net/worksafe/bull94.txt

The issues is compounded when the coal gets wet. This is especially true with Bituminous coal since the moisture results in heating and the oxidation process.

Niel Leon
engineering.com