Study of Climate Effect on the Atmospheric Conversion in Coal Mine: A Case Study of Lignite Coal Mine in Thailand

Abstract

© 2020 Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd. This study aimed to simulate the climate effect on the atmospheric conversion in an open pit coal mine during 2016. Climate data, including wind speed, wind direction, temperature, relative humidity, surface pressure, ceiling height and cloud cover, was collected in order to determine the daily mixing height over the pit area. The model was simulated, using CALMET metrological diagnostic model with 50 × 50 m. resolution grid scale. In this study, the mixing height 225 km2 of the operating area in the mine was simulated based on 50×50 resolution). Three meteorological monitoring stations were set up, and upper air data were simulated by WRF model. The simulation assigned 11 vertical layers ranging from 0 to 4,000 m. According to the results of this study, the lowest of mixing height could be detected in the winter season with a downward trend starting from 07.00 PM to 07.00 AM. Conversely, the mixing height varied and gradually increased during daytime, depending on the temperature in that period. The low mixing height indicated air blockage could reduce pollution's circulation rate in the pit area. This directly affected the health of the people who worked in this mine.