The mine has been on fire since February 13, and is temporarily sealed to cut off oxygen supply to the fire. According to Consol president and ceo, J. Brett Harvey the company decided to look beyond the traditional approach of simply waiting for the fire area to cool.

“We determined that the safest and most expeditious alternative, from a global mining standpoint, is to utilize the jet engine technology."

The technology makes the underground mine atmosphere inert by eliminating oxygen through a release of nitrogen, carbon dioxide and water vapor into the mine. It has been used to fight mine fires and create inert mine atmospheres in Australia since 1999 but will be the first application for this purpose in the United States.

"We envision that by utilizing this approach, we would be able to stabilize the underground atmosphere more quickly so that mine rescue teams could re-enter the mine and begin examining the fire area," Harvey said. "Depending on the conditions underground, this could enable us to place our mine rescue teams in the mine sooner than initially anticipated.

Consol employees and the Queensland Mines Rescue Service plan to operate the jet engine from the surface, using a 14-person crew. The GAG-3A generator would exhaust up to 64,000 cubic feet of inert gases into the slope entry through ductwork connecting the engine to the slope's temporary cap. The engine is operated at about half its normal operating speed, and does not develop thrust. The company anticipates operating it for several days, in order to create an inert atmosphere, before the mine's ventilation fans could be restarted.

The jet engine used to fight mine fires has been modified so that its afterburner is cooled by water through a recirculation pump. The equipment weighs approximately 5 tons. Six people are required to assemble it, but three people can operate the engine. Its control panel continuously monitors temperatures, pressures and engine speed.