In-situ gas contents of a multi-section coal seam in Sydney basin for coal and gas outburst management

The gas content is crucial for evaluating coal and gas outburst potential in underground coal mining. This study focuses on investigating the in-situ coal seam gas content and gas sorption capacity in a representative coal seam with multiple sections (A1, A2, and A3) in the Sydney basin, where the CO_(2) composition exceeds 90%. The fast direct desorption method and associated devices were described in detail and employed to measure the in-situ gas components (Q_(1), Q_(2), and Q_(3)) of the coal seam. The results show that in-situ total gas content (Q_(T)) ranges from 9.48 m^(3)/t for the A2 section to 14.80 m^(3)/t for the A3 section, surpassing the Level 2 outburst threshold limit value, thereby necessitating gas drainage measures. Among the gas components, Q_(2) demonstrates the highest contribution to Q_(T), ranging between 55% and 70%. Furthermore, high-pressure isothermal gas sorption experiments were conducted on coal samples from each seam section to explore their gas sorption capacity. The Langmuir model accurately characterizes CO_(2) sorption behavior, with ft coefcients (R^(2)) greater than 0.99. Strong positive correlations are observed between in-situ gas content and Langmuir volume, as well as between residual gas content (Q_(3)) and sorption hysteresis. Notably, the A3 seam section is proved to have a higher outburst propensity due to its higher Q_(1) and Q_(2) gas contents, lower sorption hysteresis, and reduced coal toughness f value. The insights derived from the study can contribute to the development of efective gas management strategies and enhance the safety and efciency of coal mining operations.

Coal and gas outburst dynamic system

Coal and gas outburst is an extremely complex dynamic disaster in coal mine production process which will damage casualties and equipment facilities, and disorder the ventilation system by suddenly ejecting a great amount of coal and gas into roadway or working face. This paper analyzed the interaction among the three essential elements of coal and gas outburst dynamic system. A stress-seepage-damage coupling model was established which can be used to simulate the evolution of the dynamical system, and then the size scale of coal and gas outburst dynamical system was investigated. Results show that the dynam- ical system is consisted of three essential elements, coal-gas medium （material basis）, geology dynamic environment （internal motivation） and mining disturbance （external motivation）. On the case of CI 3 coal seam in Panyi Mine, the dynamical system exists in the range of 8-12 m in front of advancing face. The size scale will be larger where there are large geologic structures. This research plays an important guid- ing role for developing measures of coal and gas outburst prediction and prevention.

Matter-elements model and application for prediction of ccoal and gas outburst

The theory and method of extenics were applied to establish classical field matterelements and segment field matter elements for coal and gas outburst.A matter-element model for prediction was established based on five matter-elements,which includedgas pressure,types of coal damage,coal rigidity,initial speed of methane diffusionand in-situ stress.Each index weight was given fairly and quickly through the improvedanalytic hierarchy process,which need not carry on consistency checks,so accuracy ofassessment can be improved.

STUDY ON THE THRESHOLD GAS PRESSURE IN COAL AND GAS OUTBURST

Based on the statistical data of 26 outburst prone coal seams in China, this paper presents the relationship among the threshold gas pressure in coal and gas outburst and the volatile content and hardness of coal by mathematical statistics. The threshold value of gas pressure for outburst pmin in MPa may be calculated by formula Pmin =5(0. 1+0. 07Kf), where / is the hardness and V the volatile content (%) of a soft bed. In China, the value of Pmin of some outburst prone coal seams ranges from 0. 57 to 0. 1 MPa.

Effect of protective coal seam mining and gas extraction on gas transport in a coal seam

A gas–solid coupling model involving coal seam deformation,gas diffusion and seepage,gas adsorption and desorption was built to study the gas transport rule under the effect of protective coal seam mining.The research results indicate:(1) The depressurization effect changes the stress state of an overlying coal seam and causes its permeability to increase,thus gas in the protected coal seam will be desorbed and transported under the effect of a gas pressure gradient,which will cause a decrease in gas pressure.(2) Gas pressure can be further decreased by setting out gas extraction boreholes in the overlying coal seam,which can effectively reduce the coal and gas outburst risk.The research is of important engineering significance for studying the gas transport rule in protected coal seam and providing important reference for controlling coal and gas outbursts in deep mining in China.

Prediction and control of rock burst of coal seam contacting gas in deep mining

By analyzing the characteristics and the production mechanism of rock burstthat goes with abnormal gas emission in deep coal seams,the essential method of eliminatingabnormal gas emission by eliminating the occurrence of rock burst or depressingthe magnitude of rock burst was considered.The No.237 working face was selected asthe typical working face contacting gas in deep mining;aimed at this working face,a systemof rock burst prediction and control for coal seam contacting gas in deep mining wasestablished.This system includes three parts:① regional prediction of rock burst hazardbefore mining,② local prediction of rock burst hazard during mining,and ③ rock burstcontrol.

Technique of coal mining and gas extraction without coal pillar in multi-seam with low permeability

Aimed at the low mining efficiency in deep multi-seams because of high crustalstress,high gas content,low permeability,the compound 'three soft' roof and the trouble-somesafety situation encountered in deep level coal exploitation,proposed a new idea ofgob-side retaining without a coal-pillar and Y-style ventilation in the first-mined key pressure-relieved coal seam and a new method of coal mining and gas extraction.The followingwere discovered:the dynamic evolution law of the crannies in the roof is influenced bymining,the formative rule of 'the vertical cranny-abundant area' along the gob-side,thedistribution of air pressure field in the gob,and the flowing rule of pressure-relieved gas ina Y-style ventilation system.The study also established a theoretic basis for a new miningmethod of coal mining and gas extraction which is used to extract the pressure-relievedgas by roadway retaining boreholes instead of roadway boreholes.Studied and resolvedmany difficult key problems,such as,fast roadway retaining at the gob-side without a coalpillar,Y-style ventilation and extraction of pressure-relieved gas by roadway retainingboreholes,and so on.The study innovated and integrated a whole set of technical systemsfor coal and pressure relief gas extraction.The method of the pressure-relieved gasextraction by roadway retaining had been successfully applied in 6 typical working faces inthe Huainan and Huaibei mining areas.The research can provide a scientific and reliabletechnical support and a demonstration for coal mining and gas extraction in gaseous deepmulti-seams with low permeability.

Research into comprehensive gas extraction technology of single coal seams with low permeability in the Jiaozuo coal mining area

For a low permeability single coal seam prone to gas outbursts, pre-drainage of gas is difficult and inefficient, seriously restricting the safety and efficiency of production. Radical measures of increasing gas extraction efficiency are pressure relief and infrared antireflection. We have analyzed the effect of mining conditions and the regularity of mine pressure distribution in front of the working face of a major coal mine of the Jiaozuo Industrial （Group） Co. as our test area, studied the width of the depressurization zone in slice mining and analyzed gas efficiency and fast drainage in the advanced stress relaxation zone. On that basis, we further investigated and practiced the exploitation technology of shallow drilling, fan dril- ling and grid shape drilling at the working face. Practice and our results show that the stress relaxation zone is the ideal region for quick and efficient extraction of gas. By means of an integrated extraction technology, the amount of gas emitted into the zone was greatly reduced, while the risk of dangerous outbursts of coal and gas was lowered markedly. This exploration provides a new way to control for gas in working faces of coal mines with low permeability and risk of gas outbursts of single coal seams in the Jiaozuo mining area.

Mechanism of gas pressure action during the initial failure of coal containing gas and its application for an outburst inoculation

Faced with the continuous occurrence of coal and gas outburst(hereinafter referred to as“outburst”)disasters,as a main controlling factor in the evolution process of an outburst,for gas pressure,it is still unclear about the phased characteristics of the coupling process with in situ stress,which induce coal damage and instability.Therefore,in the work based on the mining stress paths induced by typical outburst accidents,the gradual and sudden change of three-dimensional stress is taken as the background for the mechanical reconstruction of the disaster process.Then the true triaxial physical experiments are conducted on the damage and instability of coal containing gas under multiple stress paths.Finally,the response characterization between coal damage and gas pressure has been clarified,revealing the mechanism of action of gas pressure during the initial failure of coals.And the main controlling mechanism during the outburst process is elucidated in the coupling process of in situ stress with gas pressure.The results show that during the process of stress loading and unloading,the original gas pressure enters the processes of strengthening and weakening the action ability successively.And the strengthening effect continues to the period of large-scale destruction of coals.The mechanical process of gas pressure during the initial failure of coals can be divided into three stages:the enhancement of strengthening action ability,the decrease of strengthening action ability,and the weakening action ability.The entire process is implemented by changing the dominant action of in situ stress into the dominant action of gas pressure.The failure strength of coals is not only affected by its original mechanical strength,but also by the stress loading and unloading paths,showing a particularly significant effect.Three stages can be divided during outburst inoculation process.That is,firstly,the coals suffer from initial damage through the dominant action of in situ stress with synergy of gas pressure;secondly,the coals with spallation of structural division are generated through the dominant action of gas pressure with synergy of in situ stress,accompanied by further fragmentation;and finally,the fractured coals suffer from fragmentation and pulverization with the gas pressure action.Accordingly,the final broken coals are ejected out with the gas action,initiating an outburst.The research results can provide a new perspective for deepening the understanding of coal and gas outburst mechanism,laying a theoretical foundation for the innovation of outburst prevention and control technologies.

Gas seepage equation of deep mined coal seams and its application

In order to obtain a gas seepage law of deep mined coal seams, according to the properties of coalbed methane seepage in in-situ stress and geothermal temperature fields, the gas seepage equation of deep mined coal seams with the Klinkenberg effect was obtained by confirming the coatbed methane permeability in in-situ stress and geothermal temperature fields. Aimed at the condition in which the coal seams have or do not have an outcrop and outlet on the ground, the application of the gas seepage equation of deep mined coal seams in in-situ stress and geothermal temperature fields on the gas pressure calculation of deep mined coal seams was investigated. The comparison between calculated and measured results indicates that the calculation method of gas pressure, based on the gas seepage equation of deep mined coal seams in in-situ stress and geothermal temperature fields can accu- rately be identical with the measured values and theoretically perfect the calculation method of gas pressure of deep mined coal seams.

△P index with different gas compositions for instantaneous outburst prediction in coal mines

In this study we measured the △P(initial speed of gas emission) index with different gas concentrations of carbon dioxide(pure CO2,90% CO2+10% CH4,67% CO2+33% CH4,50% CO2+50% CH4,30% CO2+10% CH4 and pure CH4) of coal samples from the No.2 coal seam in the Yaojie Coal Mine,Gansu province,China.The effect of carbon dioxide concentration,gas composition,coal strength and particle size of coal samples on the △P index was investigated.The experimental results show that with gas of various compositions,the △P value of three samples were clearly different.The △P index of coal samples A,B and C(0.2～0.25 mm) were 4,6 and 7 with pure CH4 and 22,30 and 21 when pure CH4 was used.Carbon dioxide concentration affects the △P index markedly.The △P index increases with an increase in carbon dioxide concentration,especially for coal B.Hence,the △P index and K(another outburst index) values tested only with pure CH4 for prediction of the danger of outburst is not accurate.It is important to determine the initial speed of gas emission given the gas composition of the coal seam to be tested for exact outburst prediction.

Application of deep borehole blasting on fully mechanized hard top-coal pre-splitting and gas extraction in the special thick seam

In order to solve the problems of top-coal inadequate destruction and large amounts of gas emission in mining extra thick and hard coal seam,this study investigated the pre-splitting for deep borehole blasting and gas pre-draining technologies on top coal.The mechanism of the technologies was systematically expounded based on hard top-coal cracks development obtained by numerical simulation and theoretical analysis.The results show that explosive blasting in the hard rock results in a large number of cracks and large displacement in the rock mass due to the effect of explosion stress.Meanwhile,the thick top-coal caves,and desorbing gas flows along the cracks improve gas extraction.Finally,the pre-splitting for deep borehole blasting and gas pre-draining technologies was applied in No.3802 working face of Shui Liandong Coal Mine,which increases monthly output in the face to 67.34 kt and the drained gas concentration to 86.2%.The drained gas average concentration from each borehole reaches 40%,and the effect is remarkable.

Controlling Effects of Surrounding Rock to Coal Seam Gas Occurrence

Surrounding rock of coal seam was one of the important factors to gas occurrence. The coal seam gas occurrence was studied by the index of roof strata thickness or sand content rate;we found that there were certain shortcomings. In order to reasonably evaluate the influence of coal seam surrounding rock on gas occurrence in Panji mining area, we quantitatively evaluated the effect of coal seam surrounding rock on gas occurrence by influence coefficient of roof strata thickness, and built six mathematical models of the variational gas content in the mining area which is divided into six gas geological units. The results shows that the coal seam gas content is mainly influenced by 20 mroof strata in each gas geological unit, the gas content presents the tendency of increase, and with the influence coefficient of strata thickness increases, they exist a significant linear relationship.

Key technologies and engineering practices for soft-rock protective seam mining

Severe gas disasters in deep mining areas are increasing,and traditional protective coal seam mining is facing significant challenges.This paper proposes an innovative technology using soft rock as the protective seam in the absence of an appropriate coal seam.Based on the geological engineering conditions of the new horizontal first mining area of Luling Coal Mine in Huaibei,China,the impacts of different mining parameters of the soft-rock protective seam on the pressure-relief effect of the protected coal seam were analyzed through numerical simulation.The unit stress of the protected coal seam,which was less than half of the primary rock stress,was used as the mining stress pressure-relief index.The optimized interlayer space was found to be 59 m for the first soft-rock working face,with a 2 m mining thickness and 105 m face length.The physicochemical characteristics of the orebody were analyzed,and a device selection framework for the soft-rock protective seam was developed.Optimal equipment for the working face was selected,including the fully-mechanized hydraulic support and coal cutter.A production technology that combined fully-mechanized and blasting-assisted soft-rock mining was developed.Engineering practices demonstrated that normal circulation operation can be achieved on the working face of the soft-rock protective seam,with an average advancement rate of 1.64 m/d.The maximum residual gas pressure and content,which were measured at the cut hole position of the protected coal seams(Nos.8 and 9),decreased to 0.35 MPa and 4.87 m^3/t,respectively.The results suggested that soft-rock protective seam mining can produce a significant gas-control effect.

Analysis of the dialectical relation between top coal caving and coal-gas outbtu rst

According to the different engineering mechanical states of top coal caving andnormal stoping of gaseous loose thick coal seams,the dialectical relation between thiscaving method and dynamic disasters was analyzed by simulating the change of stressstates in the process of top coal initial caving with different mining and caving ratios basedon the ANSYS10.0.The variation of elastic energy and methane expansion energy duringfirst top coal caving was analyzed by first weighting and periodic weighting and combiningwith coal stress and deformation distribution of top coal normal stoping as well as positiveand negative examples in top coal caving of outburst coal seam.The research shows thatthe outburst risk increases along with the increase of the caving ratio in the initial miningstage.In the period of normal stoping,when the mining and caving ratio is smaller than1:3 and hard and massive overlying strata do not exist (periodic weighting is not obvious),it is beneficial to control ground stress leading type outburst.Thus,it is unreasonable toprohibit top coal caving in dangerous and outburst prone areas.

Dynamic behavior of outburst two-phase flow in a coal mine T-shaped roadway:The formation of impact airflow and its disaster-causing effect

The study of the dynamic disaster mechanism of coal and gas outburst two-phase flow is crucial for improving disaster reduction and rescue ability of coal mine outburst accidents.An outburst test in a T-shaped roadway was conducted using a self-developed large-scale outburst dynamic disaster test system.We investigated the release characteristics of main energy sources in coal seam,and obtained the dynamic characteristics of outburst two-phase flow in a roadway.Additionally,we established a formation model for outburst impact flow and a model for its flow in a bifurcated structure.The results indicate that the outburst process exhibits pulse characteristics,and the rapid destruction process of coal seam and the blocking state of gas flow are the main causes of the pulse phenomenon.The outburst energy is released in stages,and the elastic potential energy is released in the vertical direction before the horizontal direction.In a straight roadway,the impact force oscillates along the roadway.With an increase in the solid–gas ratio,the two-phase flow impact force gradually increases,and the disaster range extends from the middle of the roadway to the coal seam.In the area near the coal seam,the disaster caused by the two-phase flow impact is characterized by intermittent recovery.In a bifurcated roadway,the effect of impact airflow on impact dynamic disaster is much higher than that of two-phase flow,and the impact force tends to weaken with increasing solid-gas ratio.The impact force is asymmetrically distributed;it is higher on the left of the bifurcated roadway.With an increase in the solid-gas ratio,the static pressure rapidly decreases,and the bifurcated structure accelerates the attenuation of static pressure.Moreover,secondary acceleration is observed when the shock wave moves along the T-shaped roadway,indicating that the bifurcated structure increases the shock wave velocity.

Features of gas geology and its main controlling factors in Pingxiang Mining Area, Jiangxi Province

Pingxiang Mining Area in Jiangxi Province is one of the major coal-producing areas and is prone to serious coal and gas outburst, therefore, it is of significance to research on gas geological features and its controlling factors. Based on the analysis of gas data collected from geological exploration and coal mining, the research reveals that the features of gas geology vary significantly between west part and east part of Pingxiang Mining Area, and it is characterized by high gas mines with se- rious coal and gas outburst in the west part and low gas mines with no coal and gas outburst in the east part. The main controlling factors to gas geology are discussed, and the great difference of gas geology between west part and east part is the result of comprehensive effect by geological factors. Concerning the gas generation, the coal rank in the west part is higher than that in the east part, which is favorable to generate more gas in the west part than in the east part. Concerning the gas preservation, the structures are characterized by gliding nappe in the west part and by tectonic window in the east part, the surrounding rocks are characterized by poor permeability in the west part and comparatively good permeability in the east part, and the characteristics of coal rank and coal body structure are favorable to gas preservation in the west part and favorable to gas emission in the east part.

Definition, theory, methods, and applications of the safe and efficient simultaneous extraction of coal and gas

Simultaneous extraction of the coal and gas is an effective method of eliminating coal mine gas disasters while safely exploiting the coal and achieving efficient gas drainage in China, which is widely accepted by the main coal-producing countries around the world. However, the concrete definition of simultaneous extraction is vague and there is little accurate theoretical support for the simultaneous extraction of coal and gas, which makes it difficult to determine an efficient gas drainage method appropriate to the features of coal seams. Based on theoretical analysis, laboratory tests and field observations, a specific definition of simultaneous extraction of coal and gas is proposed after analyzing the characteristics of coal seam occurrences in China, and we developed the mechanism of mining-enhanced permeability and established the corresponding theoretical model. This comprises a process of fracture network formation, in which the original fractures are opened and new fractures are produced by unloading damage. According to the theoretical model, the engineering approaches and their quantitative parameters of ＇unloading by borehole drilling＇ for single coal seams and ＇unloading by protective seam mining＇ for groups of coal seams are proposed, and the construction principles for coal exploitation and gas-drainage systems for different conditions are given. These methods were applied successfully in the Tunlan Coal Mine in Shanxi Province and the Panyi Coal Mine in Anhui Province and could assure safe and efficient simultaneous extraction of coal and gas in these outburst coal mines.

Regional gas drainage techniques in Chinese coal mines

China's rapid economic development has increased the demand for coal.These results in Chinese coal mines being extended to deeper levels.The eastern Chinese,more economical developed,regions have a long history of coal mining and many coal mines have now started deep mining at a depth from 800 to 1500 m.This increase in mining depth,geostresses,pressures,and gas content of the coal seam complicates geologic construction conditions.Lower permeability and softer coal contribute to increasing numbers of coal and gas outburst,and gas explosion,disasters.A search on effective methods of preventing gas disasters has been provided funds from the Chinese government since 1998.The National Engineering Research Center of Coal Gas Control and the Huainan and Huaibei Mining Group have conducted theoretical and experimental research on a regional gas extraction technology.The results included two important findings.First,grouped coal seams allow adoption of a method where a first,key protective layer is mined to protect upper and lower coal seams by increasing permeability from 400 to 3000 times.Desorption of gas and gas extraction in the protected coal seam of up to 60%,or more,may be achieved in this way.Second,a single seam may be protected by using a dense network of extraction boreholes consisting of cross and along-bed holes.Combined with this is increased use of water that increases extraction of coal seam gas by up to 50%.Engineering practice showed that regional gas drainage technology eliminates regional coal and gas outburst and also enables mining under low gas conditions.These research results have been adopted into the national safety codes of production technology.This paper systematically introduces the principles of the technology,the engineering methods and techniques,and the parameters of regional gas drainage.Engineering applications are discussed.

Advances in gas content based on outburst control technology in Huainan, China

The sudden and violent nature of coal and gas outbursts continues to pose a serious threat to coal mine safety in China. One of the key issues is to predict the occurrence of outbursts. Current methods that are used for predicting the outbursts in China are considered to be inadequate, inappropriate or impractical in some seam conditions. In recent years, Huainan Mining Industry Group(Huainan) in China and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation(CSIRO) in Australia have been jointly developing technology based on gas content in coal seams to predict the occurrence of outbursts in Huainan. Significant progresses in the technology development have been made, including the development of a more rapid and accurate system in determining gas content in coal seams, the invention of a sampling-while-drilling unit for fast and pointed coal sampling, and the coupling of DEM and LBM codes for advanced numerical simulation of outburst initiation and propagation. These advances are described in this paper.