Abstract: It is the basis of emission reduction work to refine the list of carbon emissions. The aim of this study is to evaluate the carbon dioxide emission induced by coalfield fires in China. Based on coal oxygen complex action theory, two calculating methods based on “coal loss in combustion” and “gas emissions flux” were proposed with different research approaches. In these two carbon dioxide calculating methods, the parameters “discharge coefficient”, “emission factor α”, “emission flux” and “emission factor β” were explicitly defined; and then the approaches for acquiring these parameters were explained in detail: (1) “discharge coefficient” can be obtained from the experiment for simulating coal spontaneous combustion; (2) “emission factor α” can be obtained from the carbon dioxide adsorption experiment for surrounding rock and geological survey in coalfield; (3) “emission flux” can be obtained by the gas emission flux monitoring; (4) “emission factor β” can be obtained by the remote sensing interpretation with high resolution imageries. As a result, these two calculation models were used in the Wuda coal field to inspect whether the models can be used in actual operation.

Key words:  coalfield spontaneous combustion, discharge coefficient, emission factors, emission flux, Wuda coalfield