Distribution of ground stress on Puhe Coal Mine

Puhe Coal Mine is a typical Tertiary coal in Shenbei mining area. With an increase in mining depth, tectonic stress field becomes more complex, leading to increased deformation and failure of the soft rock roadway. Stress becomes an important factor of mine safety and stability. This paper analyzes the distribution of the regional tectonic field, and determines the distribution of situ stress measurement through measuring the ground stress field in the main mining area level of Puhe Coal Mine using stress relief method. The acquired in situ stress data at different locations and depths provide a reference for the rational arrangement of the stop and mine roadway supporting design, which are of great significance for the efficient safety production of the mine.

Lead Exposure and Oxidative Stress in Coal Miners

We aimed to investigate the short-term correlation between blood lead levels and oxidative stress generation in coal miners. The study involved 94 male coal miners from the Velenje Coal mine, arranged into four groups： three groups according to the number of consecutive working days, and a fourth control group. Miners who worked for three consecutive days had higher blood levels of lead and 8-isoprostane than the control group（P 〈 0.001）. Correlation between lead and 8-isoprostane was of medium strength（r = 0.512, P 〈 0.001）. Short-term lead environmental exposure can potentially harmful and should be considered when formulating improvements in working processes.

Stress distribution and surrounding rock control of mining near to the overlying coal pillar in the working face

The occurrence of overlying coal pillar(OCP)exerts a strong effect on the stress and strain distribution of the surrounding rock in the stope.In this paper,the stress distribution characteristics are analyzed via the numerical calculation with the account of OCP presence or absence.In addition,this study revealed the joint effect of side pressure relief area of the goaf and stress concentration in OCP on the final stress distribution.Furthermore,the rules of abutment stress distribution affected by three influencing factors,namely horizontal-vertical distances between OCP and working face and buried depth of OCP,are analyzed.The functional model linking the peak stress of surrounding rock with the above influencing factors is developed.The field application of the above results proved that the rib spalling and deformation of a 2.95 m-high and 5.66 m-wide roadway could be efficiently controlled by rationally adjusting working states of the support,and adopting the hydraulic prop coordinated with the p type metal beam and anchor cable to strengthen the surrounding rock of working face and roadway,respectively.The proposed measures are considered appropriate to satisfy the safe operation requirements.

Anisotropic coal permeability and its stress sensitivity

This paper focuses on anisotropy of coal permeability and its stress sensitivity.Coal blocks were taken from Xinjing Coal Mine in Yangquan Coal District.Coal cores were then drilled along the strike,dip,and vertical directions.Coal permeabilities were measured with respect to stress by using a self-developed coal permeability measurement system.The used samples exhibited significant permeability anisotropy.The permeability along the strike direction was greatest among the three directions,the permeability along the vertical direction was the smallest,and the permeability along the dip direction was between the other two directions.The sensitivity of coal permeability to stress was transversely isotropic.The stress sensitivity coefficient was greater along the horizontal directions than along the vertical directions.Coal permeability exhibited anisotropic stress sensitivity due to anisotropy in Young’s modulus and porosity.The results obtained in this study are useful for optimizing the arrangement of pre-drainage boreholes.

Stress distribution rule of roadway affected by overhead mining in gently inclined coal seams group

In light of the severe deformation and destruction of the district raise tunnel in the mining area at the northern part of the Lubanshan colliery, by the theoretic analysis and numerical simulation, both the mining stress distribution in seams group and the deformation and destruction mechanism of floor district raise were investigated. The results show that, at the maximum vertical distance of 40 m, the abutment stress has an influence on the recovery of 2# and 3# coal seam and 8# coal seam at distance of 30 m. As a result, the recovery of 8# is rather than those of 2# or 3# coal seam, which contributes to the deformation and destruction of the district raise surrounding rock. The major factors affecting the abutment stress include the mining depth, mining height, residual gob space, adjacent working faces and short spacing coal seam recovery.

Numerical Simulation of Thermal Stress Field of Water-cooled-wall Pulverized-coal Gasifiers

A local thermal stress model of water-cooled-wall pulverized-coal gasifier was built, and ANSYS was used to simulate the stress field in the gasifier operation to research the damage of refractories and slag layer caused by the thermal stress. The results reveal that:（1） the maximum stress of water-cooled-wall gasifier appears at the interface between anchor nails and refractories as well as the interface between refractories and the slag layer, and the maximum stress of slag layer appears on the surface of the slag layer;（2） the increase of slag layer thickness can significantly reduce the thermal stress at the interface between anchor nails and refractories, but increase the thermal stress between slag layer and refractories;（3） when the therma I conductivity is 2-6 W · m-1 · K-1, the thermal stress increases rapidly with the increase of the thermal conductivity, but when the thermal conductivity is 6-10 W · m-1 · K-1, the thermal stress is basically stable;（4） the higher the cooling rate, the faster the decreasing speed of the temperature and thermal stress.

Influence of abnormal stress under a residual bearing coal pillar on the stability of a mine entry

Mine entries close to residual bearing coal pillars(RBCPs) will suffer large deformation that may cause rock burst. To better understand the deformation mechanism and develop safe and practical guidelines for entry design, most studies focus on the absolute size of the stress field in and around the pillar. In this paper, we present a new approach to analyze the abnormal stress field close to a RBCP that uses the stress concentration coefficient(SCC), stress gradient(SG), and coefficient of lateral pressure(CLP) to describe the stress state induced by the RBCP. Based on elastic theory and a mathematical model for the abutment stress in the RBCP, an analytical solution for the abnormal stress in the strata below the RBCP was derived and the characteristics of the abnormal stress for a case study of a coal mine in China were analyzed. The results show that the abnormal stress field around the pillar is characterized by four distinct zones: a zone of high SCC, high SG, and CLP less than 1, a zone of high SCC, low SG, and CLP less than 1, a zone of low SCC, SG close to 0, and CLP greater than 1, and a zone of SCC close to 1, SC close to 0, and CLP close to 1. Based on this zoning pattern, a numerical model was established to study the combined effects of the abnormal stress on the stability of the entry. The most stable zone was determined based on a model of the Xinrui coal mine and verified by field measurements at the mine. Our conclusions can be used as guidelines for designing safe entry layouts in similar geological and mining settings.

Seepage laws of two kinds of disastrous gas in complete stress-strain process of coal

The similarities and differences in seepage flow evolution laws of CH4 and CO2 during complete stress- strain process of samples were comparatively analyzed. The results show that the seepage flow evolution laws of CH4 and CO2 are extremely similar during the stress-strain process, showing that the character- istic first decreased and then increased. A mathematical model was also established according to the rela- tionship of seepage velocity and axial strain. However, due to the strong adsorption ability of CO2, the coal samples generated a more serious ''Klinkenberg effect'' under the condition of CO2. Owing to this, the CO2 seepage flow resulted into occurrence of ''stagnation'' phenomenon during the late linear elastic stage II. In the strain consolidation stage III, the increment rate of CH4 seepage velocity was significantly greater than that of CO2. In the stress descent stage IV, when the axial load reached the peak pressure of coal, the increment rates of CH4 seepage velocity presented a turning point. But the changing rate of CO2 seepage velocity still remained slow and a turning point was presented at one time after the peak of thestrain pressure, which showed an obvious feature of hysteresis.

Lateral Stress Concentration in Localized Interlayer Rock Stratum and the Impact on Deep Multi-Seam Coal Mining

To explore the impact of lateral stress concentration in interlayer rock stratum on the exploitation of protected coal seam, a field experiment was carried out in a multi-seam mining structure. Lateral stress redistribution and interlayer rock failure behavior were surveyed. Then an assistant numerical investigation was implemented to evolve the effect of liberated seam mining and its influence on stress reconstruction in surrounding rock mass. The cause of lateral stress concentration and its impact were discussed finally. Key findings turn out that a certain lateral stress increases in interlayer rock stratum and concentrates on its lower region. Lateral stress concentration and interlayer rock failure are interactional. The former is an inducing factor of the latter;the latter promotes the increase of concentration degree. Extent of lateral stress concentration increases to the maximum as seam distance is about 50 m. But the efficacy of liberated seam mining decreases as the seam spacing gets larger. Protected seam mining is then classified based upon the impact of lateral stress concentration, which helps to prevent the rock burst hazard and then to achieve a reliable mining in deep mines.

Numerical simulation of spatial distributions of mining-induced stress and fracture fields for three coal mining layouts

In this study, the spatial distributions of stress and fracture fields for three typical underground coal mining layouts, Le, non-pillar mining （NM）, top-coal caving mining （TCM） and protective coal-seam mining （PCM）, are modeled using discrete element software UDEC, The numerical results show that different mining layouts can lead to different mining-induced stress fields, resulting in diverse fracture fields, For the PCM, the mining influenced area in front of the mining faces is the largest, and the stress concentration factor in front of the mining faces is the lowest, The spatial shapes of the mining-induced fracture fields under NM, TCM and PCM differ, and they are characterized by trapezoidal, triangular and tower shapes, respectively, The fractal dimensions of mining-induced fractures of the three mining layouts decrease in the order of PCM, TCM and NM, It is also shown that the PCM can result in a better gas control effect in coal mines with high outburst potential, The numerical results are expected to provide a basis for understanding of mining-induced gas seepage fields and provide a reference for high- efficiency coal mining,

Simulation of Paleotectonic Stress Fields and Distribution Prediction of Tectonic Fractures at the Hudi Coal Mine, Qinshui Basin

Study on tectonic fractures based on the inversion of tectonic stress fields is an effective method. In this study, a geological model was set up based on geological data from the Hudi Coal Mine, Qinshui Basin, a mechanical model was established under the condition of rock mechanics and geostress, and the finite element method was used to simulate the paleotectonic stress field. Based on the Griffith and Mohr-Coulomb criterion, the distribution of tectonic fractures in the Shanxi Formation during the Indosinian, Yanshanian, and Himalayan period can be predicted with the index of comprehensive rupture rate. The results show that the acting force of the Pacific Plate and the India Plate to the North China Plate formed the direction of principal stress is N-S, NW - SE, and NE - SW, respectively, in different periods in the study area. Changes in the direction and strength of the acting force led to the regional gradients of tectonic stress magnitude, which resulted in an asymmetrical distribution state of the stress conditions in different periods. It is suggested that the low-stress areas are mainly located in the fault zones and extend along the direction of the fault zones. Furthermore, the high-stress areas are located in the junction of fold belts and the binding site of multiple folds. The development of tectonic fractures was affected by the distribution of stress intensity and the tectonic position of folds and faults, which resulted in some developed areas with level I and II. There are obvious differences in the development of tectonic fractures in the fold and fault zones and the anticline and syncline structure at the same fold zones. The tectonic fractures of the Shanxi Formation during the Himalayan period are more developed than those during the Indosinian and Yanshanian period due to the superposition of the late tectonic movement to the early tectonic movement and the differences in the magnitude and direction of stress intensity.

Surrounding Rock Failure Mechanism and Control Technology of Gob-Side Entry with Triangle Coal Pillar at Island Longwall Panel in 15 m Extra-Thick Coal Seams

Taking the return air roadway of Tashan 8204 isolated island working face as the background, the evolution law of the stress field in the surrounding rock of the widened coal pillar area roadway during the mining period of the isolated island working face is obtained through numerical simulation. The hazardous area of strong mine pressure under different coal pillar widths is determined. Through simulation, it is known that when the width of the coal pillar is less than 20 m, there is large bearing capacity on the coal side of the roadway entity. The force on the side of the coal pillar is relatively small. When the width of the coal pillar ranges from 25 m to 45 m, the vertical stress on the roadway and surrounding areas is relatively high. Pressure relief measures need to be taken during mining to reduce surrounding rock stress. When the width of the coal pillar is greater than 45 m, the peak stress of the coal pillar is located in the deep part of the surrounding rock, but it still has a certain impact on the roadway. It is necessary to take pressure relief measures to transfer the stress to a deeper depth to ensure the stability of the triangular coal pillar during the safe mining period of the working face. This provides guidance for ensuring the stability of the triangular coal pillar during the safe mining period of the working face.

Experimental study on the variation law of coal temperature during excavation in coal mines

By testing the temperature of the coal and the stress of the working surface, we got the variation law of coal temperature and coal stress during the excavation. The result shows that the activities of mining affect the coal temperature, the fluctuation of coal temperature and the coal stress is synchronous. During the smooth change of crustal stress, the coal temperature basically keeps unchanged, when the dynamic phenomenon appears, the coal temperature changes, as well the coal stress. Therefore, we can use the online coal temperature monitoring system to test the coal temperature of the working surface continuously, and it can provide basic information for forecasting coal mine power disaster before it happens.

李家壕煤矿31114工作面上覆岩层裂隙发育规律研究

为了弄清楚浅埋深近距离煤层群条件下,上部煤层开采后形成的采空区已基本被上覆岩层压实,而开采下部煤层时是如何对上部采空区的压实区造成影响的。本文采用相似材料模拟实验的方法模拟李家壕煤矿2-2煤层及其下部3-1煤层的开采,最终得出2-2煤层和3-1煤层开采的应力场演化规律、位移场演化规律、顶板垮落结构及裂隙演化导通规律,对于矿井的长期安全、稳定生产具有重要意义。

Stability control of surrounding rocks for a coal roadway in a deep tectonic region

In order to effectively control the deformation and failure of surrounding rocks in a coal roadway in a deep tectonic region, the deformation and failure mechanism and stability control mechanism were studied. With such methods as numerical simulation and field testing, the distribution law of the displacement, stress and plastic zone in the surrounding rocks was analyzed. The deformation and failure mechanisms of coal roadways in deep tectonic areas were revealed: under high tectonic stress, two sides will slide along the roof or floor; while the plastic zone of the two sides will extend along the roof or floor,leading to more serious deformation and failure in the corner of two sides and the bolt supporting the corners is readily cut off by the shear force or tension force. Aimed at controlling the large slippage deformation of the two sides, serious deformation and failure in the corners of the two sides and massive bolt breakage, a ‘‘controlling and yielding coupling support'' control technology is proposed. Firstly, bolts which do not pass through the bedding plane should be used in the corners of the roadway, allowing the two sides to have some degree of sliding to achieve the purpose of ‘‘yielding'' support, and which avoid breakage of the bolts in the corner. After yielding support, bolts in the corner of the roadway and which pass through the bedding plane should be used to control the deformation and failure of the coal in the corner. ‘‘Controlling and yielding coupling support'' technology has been successfully applied in engineering practice, and the stability of deep coal roadway has been greatly improved.

Layout and support design of a coal roadway in ultra-close multiple-seams

A roadway within ultra-close multiple-seams(RUCMSs) is one of the most difficult supported coal roadways to deal with in underground coal mines. This is usually due to the unknown stress distributions, improper roadway layout, and unreasonable support parameters. In order to solve this support problem and effectively save RUCMSs from frequent and abrupt disasters(such as serious deformation of the surrounding rock, roof cave ins, and coal side collapse), a comprehensive method is adopted here which includes theoretical analysis, numerical simulation, and field monitoring. A mechanical model was constructed to determine the stress distribution in the coal pillar after two sides of a longwall panel had been mined. Based on this model, the horizontal, vertical, and tangential stress equations for the plane below the floor of the upper-left coal pillar were deduced. In addition, a typical coal mine(the Jinggonger colliery, located in Shuozhou city, Shanxi province, China) with an average distance between its 9# and 11# coal seams of less than 8.0 was chosen to conduct research on the proper layout and reasonable support required for a typical coal roadway located within coal seam 11#. Using FLAC3D(Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua in 3-Dimensions) numerical software, eight schemes were designed with different horizontal distances(d) between the center lines of the coal pillar and the roadway in the lower coal seam(RLCS). The simulations and detailed analysis indicate that the proper distances required are between 22.5 and 27.5 m. A total of 20 simulation schemes were used to investigate the factors influencing the support provided by the key bolts(bolt length, spacing, distance between two rows, installation angle, and pre-tightening force). The results were analyzed and used to determine reasonable values for the support parameters. Field results show that the stability and strength of the RLCS can be effectively safeguarded using a combination of researched stress distribution characteristics, proper layout of the RLCS, and correct support parameters.

Deformation transition of intact coal induced by gas injection

Gas migration in coal bed is a multiple-physical process, of which not only includes gas desorption/diffusion through coal matrix and gas Darcy flow through the cleat system, but also results in deformation of solid coal. Especially for enhanced coal bed methane(ECBM) and CO2 capture and sequestration(CCS), gas injection is mainly controlled by the gas diffusivity in the coal matrix and coal permeability.Although the relevant coal permeability models have been frequently developed, how the dual-porosity system of coal affects gas adsorption/diffusion is still poorly understood. In this paper, a series of experiments were carried out in order to investigate deformation evolution of intact coal subjected to hydrostatic pressure of different gases(including pure H2, N2 and CO2) under isotherm injection. In the testing process, the coal strain and injected gas pressure were measured simultaneously. The results show that the pressure of non-adsorptive helium remained unchanged throughout the isothermal injection process, in which the volumetric strain of the coal shrinked firstly and maintained unchanged at lower isobaric pressure. With the injected pressure increasing, the coal volume underwent a transition from shrinking to recovery(still less than initial volume of the coal). In contrast, N2 injection caused the coal to shrink firstly and then recover with decreasing gas pressure. The recovery volume was larger than the initial volume due to adsorption-induced swelling. For the case of CO2 injection, although the stronger adsorption effect could result in swelling of the solid coal, the presence of higher gas pressure appears to contribute the swelling coal to shrink. These results indicate that the evolution of coal deformation is time dependent throughout the migration of injected gas. From the mechanical characteristics of poroelastical materials, distribution of pore pressure within the coal is to vary with the gas injection,during which the pore pressure in the cleats will rapidly increase, in contrast, the pore pressure in the matrix will hysteretically elevate. Such a difference on changes of pore pressure between the cleats and the matrix will contribute to the shrinkage of the matrix as a result of initially greater effective stress.Besides, both gas-adsorption-induced swelling and decreasing effective stress also control the coal deformation transition. This work gives us an insight into investigation on influence of effective stress on coal-gas interaction.

Coal pillar mechanics of violent failure in U.S. Mines

This paper seeks to enhance the understanding that the horizontal stresses build up and release during coal pillar loading and unloading(post-failure) drawing upon three decades of observations, geomechanical monitoring and numerical modeling in bump-prone U.S. mines. The focus is on induced horizontal stress in mine pillars and surrounding strata as highly stressed pillars punch into the roof and floor, causing shear failure and buckling of strata; under stiff stratigraphic units of some western US mines, these events could be accompanied by violent failure of pillar cores. Pillar punching eventually results in tensile stresses at the base of the pillar, facilitating transition into the post-failure regime; this transition will be nonviolent if certain conditions are met, notably the presence of interbedded mudstones with low shear strength properties and proper mine designs for controlling seismicity and dynamic loads. The study clearly shows high confining stress build-up in coal pillars resulting in up to twice higher peak vertical stress and high strain energy accumulations in some western US mines in comparison with peak stresses predicted using common empirical pillar design methods. It is the unstable release of this strain energy that can cause significant damage resulting from pillar dilation and ground movements. These forces are much greater than the capacity of most common internal support systems, resulting in horizontal stressinduced roof falls locally, in mines under unremarkable far-field horizontal stress. Attention should be placed on pillar designs as increasing support density may prove to be ineffective. This mechanism is analyzed using field measurements and generic finite-difference stress analyses. The study confirms the higher load carrying capacity of confinement-controlled coal seams in comparison with structurally controlled coal seams. Such significant differences in confining stresses are not taken into account when estimating peak pillar strength using most common empirical techniques such as those proposed by Bieniawski and Salamon. While using lower pillar strength estimates may be considered conservative,it underestimates the actual capacity of pillars in accumulating much higher stress and strain energies,misleading the designer and inadvertently diminishing mine safety. The role of induced horizontal stress in mine pillars and surrounding strata is emphasized in coal pillar mechanics of violent failure. The triggering mechanism for the violent events is sudden loss of pillar confinement due to dynamic loading resulting from failure of overlying stiff and strong strata. Evidence of such mechanism is noted in the field by observed red-dust at the coal-rock interfaces at the location of coal bumps and irregular, periodic caving in room-and-pillar mines quantified through direct pressure measurements in the gob.

Investigation of stability of a tunnel in a deep coal mine in China

Stability level of tunnels that exist in an underground mine has a great influence on the safety,production and economic performance of mines.Ensuring of stability for soft-rock tunnels is an important task for deep coal mines located in high in situ stress conditions.Using the available information on stratigraphy,geological structures,in situ stress measurements and geo-mechanical properties of intact rock and discontinuity interfaces,a three-dimensional numerical model was built by using 3DEC software to simulate the stress conditions around a tunnel located under high in situ stress conditions in a coal rock mass in China.Analyses were conducted for several tunnel shapes and rock support patterns.Results obtained for the distribution of failure zones,and stress and displacement felds around the tunnel were compared to select the best tunnel shape and support pattern to achieve the optimum stability conditions.