Fuzzy Fault Tree Analysis and Safety Countermeasures for Coal Mine Ground Gas Transportation System

The coal mine ground gas transportation system is widely used for gas transportation and mixing preheating in the gas storage and oxidation utilization system. However, gas or coal dust explosions may occur, which could result in heavy casualties and significant economic losses. To prevent accidents in the gas transportation system, the present study takes the gas transportation system of Shanxi Yiyang Energy Company as an example to identify the composition and hazardous factors of the gas transportation system. Fault tree analysis (FTA) models were established with pipeline gas and coal dust explosions as the top events, and the importance of each basic event was quantitatively analyzed using the fuzzy fault tree analysis (FFTA) method. The results show that gas and coal dust explosion accidents are mostly caused by the combination of high-temperature ignition sources and explosive materials. The uneven mixing gas and the ventilation carrying a large amount of coal dust are the fundamental causes of coal mining accidents. Consequently, based on the general pipeline safety measures, gas indirect preheating, ventilation air methane in dust removal, and gas intelligent mixing and regulation were proposed to enhance the safety of the gas transportation system.