A miner issue

[phill-k]

Wott he said ... my first reaction as I followed through - then arrived at Reckless' response ... not for this thread ...

Well said, why front up to the tough questions when you can hide behind the race card - sorry I meant the miners card

[Reckless]

I still can't quite understand the 800L per second of methane thing? Does a coal seam produce that much methane to be pumped out?

And if it does why haven't we found a use for it, shit park a power station over the hole!!

Secondly if you have a fire and block all the oxygen to it, by blocking the shafts shouldn't it go out? If its self perpetuating shit that's ferkin awesome nature can do that.

Probably showing total ignorance here but maybe one of the miner guys here can wise us up a bit?

[RiderInBlack]

Secondly if you have a fire and block all the oxygen to it, by blocking the shafts shouldn't it go out?

Sort of. The "fire" will go out but the coat stays like hot embers in "Hot Spots" in bush fires. as soon as ya let the Oxygen in, of it goes again. Coal forms "Coke", which Insulates the embers, keeping them hot for years.

[marty]

Secondly if you have a fire and block all the oxygen to it, by blocking the shafts shouldn't it go out? If its self perpetuating shit that's ferkin awesome nature can do that.

pretty much impossible to remove all the O2. A class 1 fire (like magnesium) will burn when fully submerged - it literally rips the oxygen out of the water. A fully established coal seam fire (although it's not a class 1 fire) will be pulling oxygen out of everything near it - dirt, rock etc. a HUGE amount of water will eventually cool it enough to stop the reaction, but there's not enough water nearby that they could get to this fire. they are literally trying to cool the centre of the earth.

[RiderInBlack]

By the way, don't try to put out a large Coal fire with water. You will get "Producer Gases" (see "Coal Gas"). These include hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane. They used to blow water though hot coals in the "Industrial Age" to make "Producer Gases" to power the cities before Electricity got going.

[marty]

so pretty much all the elements that make up the atmosphere, ripped apart by a huge energy source?

[RiderInBlack]

so pretty much all the elements that make up the atmosphere, ripped apart by a huge energy source?

Aye, coal gets that hot. Might be insensitive, but if they want to make money, maybe they could stop trying to put the fire out, and use the heat to power steam driven power generators.

[marty]

where's the rhetorical question smiley?

[JimO]

they need to pour a few greenies down the vent shaft

[RiderInBlack]

they need to pour a few greenies down the vent shaft

I often wonder what might happen when we don't have anyone else to blame

[JimO]

I often wonder what might happen when we don't have anyone else to blame

no worries, there is muslims, maori, aussies, etc be fucken years befor we run out of scapegoats

[Woodman]

Yes blame the greenies , its their fault. Fcuk the blame culture in this country is getting outa control.

[Katman]

Yes blame the greenies , its their fault. Fcuk the blame culture in this country is getting outa control.

Hey, this is Kiwibiker - we've had a lot of practice.

[JimO]

Yes blame the greenies , its their fault. Fcuk the blame culture in this country is getting outa control.

you started it

[imdying]

I'm glad we have the greenies to keep a lid on what could otherwise be a pretty destructive industry. We don't need coal bad enough that we need to dig big fuck off holes in such a lovely area. Not when we have people who'll risk their lives underground daily for a few bucks.