Assessment of geotechnical factors in spontaneous combustion of coal, and thermal monitoring of coal piles and waste dumps in Kazakhstan

The study addresses mechanisms of spontaneous heating and combustion of coal during storage, haulage and preparation at the Shubarkol deposit in Kazakhstan. Coal from the mentioned deposit features a tendency for spontaneous combustion and low sturdiness in storage, and its thermal hazard grows with increasing sorption activity and duration of storage of the oxidizable material. The influence of grain-size composition, moisture content and storage conditions on the intensity of oxidation and expansion of the spontaneous combustion sources was analyzed. The study objective was to determine geotechnical factors in spontaneous combustion of coal for the further development of a technology for preserving the useful quality of coal and coal products in the period of mining and storage. The presented results of infrared imaging and laboratory tests proved the critical temperature thresholds in transition from slow oxidation to active combustion. The visual material includes the schemes of spontaneous combustion stages, and the examples of thermal anomalies in coal piles. The results are applicable in engineering coal storage and haulage, and in the systems of industrial safety of coal mines in Kazakhstan. 

Akhmatnurov D. R., Musin R. A., Nemova N. A., Zamaliyev N. M., Reznik A. V. Assessment of geotechnical factors in spontaneous combustion of coal, and thermal monitoring of coal piles and waste dumps in Kazakhstan. MIAB. Mining Inf. Anal. Bull. 2026;(8):140-156. [In Russ]. DOI: 10.25018/0236_1493_2026_8_0_140.

The study was supported by the Committee of Science of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan within the framework of the program-target budgeting, Scientific-and-Technical Program IRN No. BR24993009.

D.R. Akhmatnurov¹, PhD, Head of Laboratory, e-mail: d.akhmatnurov@gmail.com, ORCID ID: 0000-0001-9485-3669,
R.A. Musin¹, PhD, Associate Professor, e-mail R.A.Mussin@mail.ru, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-1206-6889,
N.A. Nemova², Cand. Sci. (Eng.), Senior Researcher; Assistant Professor, Siberian State University of Geosystems and Technologies, 630091, Novosibirsk, Russia, e-mail nemova-nataly@mail.ru, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-5050-611X,
N.M. Zamaliyev¹, PhD, Associate Professor, e-mail zamaliyevnail@gmail.com, ORCID ID: 0000-0003-0628-2654,
A.V. Reznik², Cand. Sci. (Eng.), Senior Researcher, e-mail a-reznik@mail.ru,  ORCID ID: 0000-0002-0077-3404,
¹ Abylkas Saginov Karaganda Technical University, 100012, Karaganda, Republic of Kazakhstan, 
² N.A. Chinakal Institute of Mining of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 630091, Novosibirsk, Russia.

R.A. Musin, e-mail: R.A.Mussin@mail.ru.

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