Visualization and simulation model of underground mine fire disaster based on Cellular Automata

Underground mine fire disasters are one of the major types of disasters that occur in the mining industry. This paper examines a method for simulating underground fire disasters based on Cellular Automata. Cells are used to describe the mass energy units produced in underground mine fires. The combustible and combustion status, the physical and life attributes, and the rules of the fire cells evolution were described. An underground fire source ignition model that highlights the expression of cell temperature was established from an analysis of factors including the types and throw-in density of combustible matters, the underground ventilation system and the slope of the tunnels. An underground fire fume spread model that focused on illustrating cell density was then created from an analysis of factors including the double diffusion effect, underground ventilation, buoyancy function, and throttle action. On this basis, the status and attributes of fire cells were described according to a sequence of time by means of visualization. This model intuitively describes the spatial–temporal development process of the fire source ignition and smoke spread in an underground mine fire disaster. The feasibility of the Cellar Automata model for underground mine fire disasters, and its visualization effects were tested and verified through a case study.