Professional ambient screening for coal self-heating and dry coal dust awareness · live National Weather Service observations
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Awaiting first read
Starting…
Executive operating overview
This public version starts with no preset sites. Each user can add their own plant, mine, terminal, yard, or storage location by entering a site name and latitude/longitude. The site list, thresholds, and display preferences are saved in the browser on that computer, making it suitable for a desktop shortcut, bookmarked control-room screen, or local awareness display.
Public configuration · no preset sites
Coal self-heat watch
50–59% RH
Elevated awareness range. Conditions may begin moving toward a more favorable self-heating window.
Prime self-heat window
60–70% RH
Most important screening band for coal spontaneous-combustion awareness based on the research reviewed.
Moving too rich
71–79% RH
Humidity is becoming less favorable for prime self-heating screening conditions.
Too rich / too humid
≥80% RH
Screening indicates conditions are generally too humid for the prime self-heating zone.
Dry dust watch
16–20% RH
Operational warning range for dry coal dust concern. Use with housekeeping, dust control, and ignition-source awareness.
Peak dry dust concern
≤15% RH
Operational peak awareness band for very dry dust conditions. Confirm with site-specific dust, housekeeping, and ignition data.
Step 1
Watch the humidity zone first
Use the humidity band to understand whether a site is in a self-heating awareness zone, a dry dust awareness zone, or a too-rich / too-humid zone.
Step 2
Confirm the trend and movement
Short-term temperature swing and wind/gust screens are intended to highlight changing ambient conditions that may deserve more attention.
Step 3
Verify with plant or mine controls
Always confirm with pile/silo temperatures, CO or gas monitoring, inspection findings, housekeeping, dust-control measures, and site personnel observations.
Method, interpretation, and intended use
What this tool is doing
Pulling nearby NWS weather observations for each monitored site.
Screening relative humidity against operational awareness bands for coal self-heating and dry dust concern.
Using a short-term temperature swing and wind/gust screen to call extra attention to changing conditions.
What this tool is not doing
It does not directly measure in-pile, bunker, silo, conveyor, or building conditions.
It does not replace temperature probes, CO monitoring, gas sampling, thermal imaging, dust testing, or engineering judgment.
It is not a predictive model or a guarantee that an event will or will not occur.
Evidence strength
The 60–70% RH self-heating band has the strongest direct support from the reviewed research, especially for sub-bituminous / PRB-type behavior.
The 50–59% watch band and >70% moving-too-rich / too-rich interpretation are evidence-informed operational guidance.
The ≤20% and ≤15% dry dust bands are operational awareness thresholds supported qualitatively by dry-dust hazard literature, not a universal coal-only RH law.
Important disclaimer: This dashboard is a screening aid to help inform and create awareness only. Ambient weather from nearby stations may not match actual on-site conditions inside stockpiles, silos, bunkers, process buildings, or enclosed dust areas. Users should verify conditions with site-specific monitoring, inspections, and applicable procedures before making operational decisions.
Reference library and confirmation links
Nugroho, Rustam, Iman, & Saleh (2008)
Effect of Humidity on Self-heating of a Sub-bituminous Coal under Adiabatic Conditions. Key support for the ~70% RH peak self-heating finding.
Examination of the role of moisture content on the spontaneous combustion of coal (SCC). Supports the role of moisture and reduced SCC tendency above ~20% moisture content.
These links are provided so users can review the underlying references themselves. If your organization has additional site-specific testing, fuel characterization, or engineering studies, those should be considered more directly applicable to your facility than generalized ambient screening alone.
Save to desktop or control-room display
Recommended setup
Open this page in Chrome, Edge, or another modern browser on the control-room computer.
Add the local sites that screen should monitor.
Bookmark the page or create a desktop shortcut to this HTML file or hosted URL.
Use the Full screen button for wall monitors or control-room displays.
What is saved
Site names, site types, latitude/longitude, and threshold settings are saved locally in that browser.
The setup does not upload your site list to this page or to the National Weather Service.
Use Export setup to back up or move a configuration to another computer.
For website users
The Coal Users Group website can host this as a public tool without preloaded sites.
Each user creates and controls their own local configuration.
Clearing browser storage or using private browsing may remove saved sites.
Reminder: This is an awareness display only. Users should confirm conditions with site-specific monitoring, inspection, and applicable procedures before making operational decisions.
Alarm thresholds
Alert log · this session
Add monitored sites — no preset locations
Enter a site display name and coordinates. The dashboard uses the nearest available National Weather Service station for live ambient conditions. Your site list is stored locally in this browser so the same screen can be reopened later without re-entering locations.
Configuration is saved locally in this browser after each change.
Disclaimer: This dashboard is a tool to help inform and create awareness only. It is intended for screening and communication, not as a stand-alone basis for operations, emergency response, or engineering decisions.
Interpretation notes: Self-heat RH watch 50–59% · prime self-heat RH 60–70% · moving too-rich RH 71–79% · too-rich RH ≥80% · dry dust watch 16–20% · peak dry dust concern ≤15%. The coal self-heating bands are based on the reviewed literature and operational interpretation; the low-RH dust bands are conservative operational awareness thresholds and should be confirmed with site-specific dust, housekeeping, and ignition-source information.
Data source and storage: U.S. National Weather Service (api.weather.gov), nearest-station observations. Confidence reflects station distance, observation age, and missing fields. Treat LOW-confidence sites with caution and consider on-site sensors and direct inspection. Site lists and thresholds are stored locally in the user’s browser; clearing browser data can remove saved settings. Audible alarm and session alert log reset on page reload.