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Xinjiang fights coalfield fires
24/10/2005 8:13


Steam emits constantly from holes as water is sprayed into an underground burning coal bed while dozens of bulldozers shovel red-hot gravel along the hillside.
This is the scene of a firefighting site at Tielieke coalfield fire in Aksu, about 1,100 kilometers southwest of Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
"We can put out the coal bed fire by drilling bores, infusing water and slurry, and covering the fire with loess," said Qi Dexiang, head of the Xinjiang Regional Coalfield Fire Fighting Project Office, an institution established in 1958.
"First, we drill to the depth of the ignited coal bed and then infuse water and slurry into it to lower the temperature, which could be as high as 1,000 degrees Celsius. After the temperature drops, we cover the surface with loess to isolate the underground fire from the atmosphere and put it out," Qi said.
Xinjiang boasts estimated coal reserves of 1.8 trillion tons, or 40.6 percent of the country's total.
But 33 have coalfield fires covering an area of 6.45 million square meters. The fires consume about 8 million tons of coal per year and cause heavy pollution in the surrounding environment.
Spontaneous combustion of exposed coal beds, colliery fires and a dry climate are the main causes of coalfield fires. Some coalfield fires have been burning for 1,000 years.
"Compared with the ways commonly used in other countries, our way of extinguishing coalfield fires is effective and it costs much less," Qi said.
With a specialized team and 47 years of firefighting experience, the office has developed an effective system for prospecting, extinguishing and monitoring fires, according to Qi.
The century-old Liuhuanggou coalfield fire - the nation's worst in terms of ignited area and loss of coal - was extinguished in late 2004 after four consecutive years of work.
"We vow to put out all coalfield fires in the region by 2015," said Qi, adding this would reduce the original schedule by five years and save about 24 million more tons of high-quality coal.
With the financial support of the central government, five coalfield fires in the region were put out between 1984 and 1999, preventing 30 billion tons of coal from being wasted.
China's coalfield fires are mainly in Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Ningxia. Together they account for more than 80 percent of the nation's coal reserves. The fires at these coalfields cause an annual loss of 13 million tons.


Xinhua