Application of Roadway Spray Material to Fire Prevention in Goaf Excavation

In order to reduce the risk of spontaneous combustion in goaf during goaf excavation process, polymer modified cement mortar spraying material was used to spray and seal the roadway surface. The experimental application was carried out in the upper channel 2304 of a mine in Henan Province. The test results showed that polymer modified cement mortar spraying material could effectively support the roadway and greatly reduce the deformation rate of the roadway. The best spraying thickness is 5 mm. Through the monitoring of tunnel air leakage, it is concluded that the polymer modified cement mortar spraying material can reduce the tunnel air leakage and play a better sealing effect.

Filling agricultural waste into coal mine goafs:a potential carbon sequestration in China

China is a significant atmospheric carbon dioxide producer.Burning of agricultural waste in China is also a problematic issue,raising environmental and carbon-emission-related concerns.Furthermore,the coal-dependent economy is accompanied by the formation of large coal mine goaf areas,particularly in Shanxi Province.In this context,the idea of filling crop residues into the coal mine goafs is proposed.This concept addresses multi-functions:(1)carbon sequestration,(2)an alternative disposal method of crop residue in rural areas,and(3)coal mine goaf remedy.

Research on the feasibility of storage and estimation model of storage capacity of CO_(2)in fissures of coal mine old goaf

The concept of the carbon cycle in the old goaf of a coal mine based on CO_(2)utilization and storage was put forward adhering to the principle of low-carbon development,utilization of space resources in old goafs,and associated gas resources development.Firstly,the evolution characteristics of overburden fissures in the goaf of the case was studied using a two-dimensional physical similarity simulation test,the sealing performance of the caprocks after stabilization was analyzed,and the fissures were counted and classi-fied.Then,the process of gaseous CO_(2)injection in the connected fissure was simulated by Ansys Fluent software,and the migration law and distribution characteristics of CO_(2)under the condition of gaseous CO_(2)injection were analyzed.Finally,the estimation models of free CO_(2)storage capacity in the old goaf were constructed considering the proportion of connected fissure and the effectiveness of CO_(2)injection.The CO_(2)storage capacity in the old goaf of the case coal mine was estimated.The results showed that a caprock group of“hard-thickness low-permeability hard-thickness”was formed after the caprock-fissures system in the goaf of the case tended to be stable vertically.The connected fissure,occlude cracks,and micro-fractures in the goaf accounted for 85.5%,8.5%,and 6%of the total fissures,respectively.Gaseous CO_(2)first migrated to the bottom of the connected fissure after CO_(2)was injected into the goaf,then spread horizontally along the bottom of the connected fissure after reaching the bottom,and finally spread longitudinally after filling the bottom of the entire connected fissure.The theoretical and effective storage capacities of free CO_(2)at normal temperature and pressure in the old goaf of the case were 9757 and 7477 t,respectively.The effective storage capacity of free CO_(2)at normal temperature and pressure in the old goaf after all minefield mined was 193404 t.The research can provide some reference for the coal mining industry to help the goal of“carbon peaking and carbon neutrality”.

Algorithm for cavity flow in a new-born goaf and experimental verification

Prevention and control measures of spontaneous combustion of coal and gas accumulation in a goaf require an accurate description of its gas flow state.However,the commonly used fluid dynamics in porous media is not suitable for the new-born goaf with fracture cavity combination,multi-scale,and large blocks.In this study,we propose a cavity flow algorithm to accurately describe the gas flow state in the new-born goaf.The genetic algorithm(GA)is used to randomly generate the binary matrix of a goaf caving shape.The difference between the gas flow state calculated by the lattice Boltzmann method(LBM)and the measured data at the boundary or internal measuring points of the real goaf is taken as the GA fitness value,and the real goaf caving shape and the gas flow state are quickly addressed by GA.The experimental model of new-born goaf is established,and the laser Doppler anemometry(LDA)experiment is carried out.The results show that the Jaccard similarity coefficient between the reconstructed caving shape and the real caving shape is 0.7473,the mean square error between the calculated wind speed and the LDA-measured value is 0.0244,and the R2 coefficient is 0.8986,which verify the feasibility of the algorithm.

Effect of periodic wide atmospheric pressure change on CO emission in closed goaf

Atmospheric pressure fuctuation is one of the most important factors afecting the climate environment and gas emission in the fre area.To obtain the infuence rule of the surface atmospheric pressure change on the gas sampling and abnormal emission in the mine closed goaf,the No.1 coal mine in Dananhu was taken as the research object.Using Fourier transform and Fisher harmonic analysis and other statistical methods,the infuence of the periodic variation of atmospheric pressure on the gas leakage and outfow in the closed goaf was studied.The results showed that there were three atmospheric pressure periods of 15.2 d,1 d and 182.2 d,and the probability was greater than 95%.The time period with the highest number of atmospheric pressure peaks was 7:00–8:00,which accounted for 20.2%of total occurrence number in a day.And the time periods with the highest number of atmospheric pressure trough were 2:00,15:00 and 16:00,accounting for 27.4%.The peak-to-trough transition time was mainly concentrated around 6 h,and the diurnal variation curve of atmospheric pressure was mainly bimodal.The atmospheric pressure change rate was mostly concentrated in 10–50 Pa/h.It was determined that the distance that the gas sampling pipe was pre-laid into the inner side of the closed wall should be greater than 44.4 m,and the CO concentration and atmospheric pressure in the closed goaf were both periodic and negative with atmospheric pressure.The research results have important guiding signifcance for the monitoring,early warning and environmental protection of the goaf.

Numerical assessment of the influence of former mining activities and plasticity of rock mass on deformations of terrain surface

This paper presents the results of numerical simulations carried out to confirm the influence of former mining activities on deformation of the mining terrain.The assessment of deformation changes was carried out with the use of FLAC3 D program based on the finite difference method.Numerical calculations were carried out for the example of actual mining operations in seams 703/1-2 and 707/2 of‘‘Marcel"Coal Mine.Taking into account the influence of the model’s plastic features and the so-called activation of a higher occurring seam in conducted simulations enabled obtaining a very good description of the measured subsidence.Based on the results one may state that numerical model can be used to assess the influence of former mining activities and the direction of conducted exploitation on deformations of the mining terrain.These factors are not recognized by geometric-integral theories commonly used for predicting the influence of mining operations on the surface.The results presented in this paper confirm that the applied method of simulating the phenomenon of reactivation of post-mining goafs is correct.

Channel Stability Analysis by One-Way Fluid Structure Interaction: A Case Study in China

Channel engineering stability with underground goafs is a complex three-dimensional problem, especially when considering channel leakage, and is influenced by a number of processes, such as seepage, fluid structure interaction(FSI), modeling, and selection of geological mechanical parameters. In this study, stability finite element analysis by one-way FSI was performed by establishing an integrated 3D engineering geological model. The extended Fourier amplitude sensitivity test was used to quantitatively assess the first-order and total sensitivities of the engineering model to critical geological mechanical parameters. Results illustrate that the channel engineering deformation is under a reasonable range and the elastic modulus is the highest total sensitivity parameter for the channel tilt and curvature at 0.7395 and 0.7525, respectively. Moreover, the most observable coupling effects for the curvature and horizontal strain are cohesion(0.1933)and density(0.7410), respectively.

Identifcation of large-scale goaf instability in underground mine using particle swarm optimization and support vector machine

An approach which combines particle swarm optimization and support vector machine(PSO–SVM)is proposed to forecast large-scale goaf instability(LSGI).Firstly,influencing factors of goaf safety are analyzed,and following parameters were selected as evaluation indexes in the LSGI:uniaxial compressive strength(UCS)of rock,elastic modulus(E)of rock,rock quality designation(RQD),area ration of pillar(Sp),the ratio of width to height of the pillar(w/h),depth of ore body(H),volume of goaf(V),dip of ore body(a)and area of goaf(Sg).Then LSGI forecasting model by PSO-SVM was established according to the influencing factors.The performance of hybrid model(PSO+SVM=PSO–SVM)has been compared with the grid search method of support vector machine(GSM–SVM)model.The actual data of 40 goafs are applied to research the forecasting ability of the proposed method,and two cases of underground mine are also validated by the proposed model.The results indicated that the heuristic algorithm of PSO can speed up the SVM parameter optimization search,and the predictive ability of the PSO–SVM model with the RBF kernel function is acceptable and robust,which might hold a high potential to become a useful tool in goaf risky prediction research.

Hydraulic support crushed mechanism for the shallow seam mining face under the roadway pillars of room mining goaf

While the fully-mechanized longwall mining technology was employed in a shallow seam under a room mining goaf and overlained by thin bedrock and thick loose sands, the roadway pillars in the abandoned room mining goaf were in a stress-concentrated state, which may cause abnormal roof weighting, violent ground pressure behaviours, even roof fall and hydraulic support crushed(HSC) accidents. In this case,longwall mining safety and efficiency were seriously challenged. Based on the HSC accidents occurred during the longwall mining of 3-1-2 seam, which locates under the intersection zone of roadway pillars in the room mining goaf of 3-1-1 seam, this paper employed ground rock mechanics to analyse the overlying strata structure movement rules and presented the main influence factors and determination methods for the hydraulic support working resistance. The FLAC3 D software was used to simulate the overlying strata stress and plastic zone distribution characteristics. Field observation was implemented to contrastively analyse the hydraulic support working resistance distribution rules under the roadway pillars in strike direction, normal room mining goaf, roadway pillars in dip direction and intersection zone of roadway pillars. The results indicate that the key strata break along with rotations and reactions of the coal pillars deliver a larger concentrated load to the hydraulic support under intersection zone of roadway pillars than other conditions. The ‘‘overburden strata-key strata-roadway pillars-immediate roof" integrated load has exceeded the yield load that leads to HSC accidents. Findings in HSC mechanism provide a reasonable basis for shallow seam mining, and have important significance for the implementation of safe and efficient mining.

Mapping coalmine goaf using transient electromagnetic method and high density resistivity method in Ordos City, China

The research about subsurface characteristics by using transient electromagnetic method（TEM） and high density resistivity method（HDRM） were already conducted in Ordos. The objective of this research is to detect coalmine goaf areas based on rock resistivity. The data processing using wavelet transform, three point smoothing, RES2 DINV and Maxwell processing software to obtain 2D resistivity structure. The results showed that the layers with maximum resistivity values（30e33 U m on Line 1, 30e31 U m on Line 2, 32e40 U m on Line3） are founded at station 1e7, and 14e20 on Line 1,13e18 on Line 2, and 8e13 and 16e20 on Line 3 which is predicted as goaf layer, and the minimum resistivity values（20e26 U m of TEM, 45e75 U m of HDRM） at the other layers. This resistivity difference was caused by the geology and characteristics of the study area which is located close by the cleugh with rich coal, so the goaf area distinguishable with aquifer layer and coal seam. The results were also significant accidents and serious destruction of ecological environment.

CO2 sequestration characteristics in the cementitious material based on gangue backfilling mining method

The increasing anthropogenic CO2 emission and global warming has challenged the China and other countries to seek new and better ways to meet the world’s increasing need for energy while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.The overall proposition of this research is to develop a brand-new CO2 physical and chemical sequestration method by using solid waste of coal mining and cementitious material which are widely used for goaf backfilling in coal mining.This research developed a new testing system(constant temperature pressurized reaction chamber(CTPRC))to study the effects of different initial parameters on mineral carbonation such as different initial water-binder ratio,initial sample porosity and initial carbon dioxide pressure.The experimental results show that the CO2 consumption ratio is 15%,10%and 7%higher with relatively high initial water-binder ratio,initial sample porosity and initial CO2 pressure within 48 h.In addition,some physical and chemical evidence was found through the electron microscope scanning and XRD test to further explain the above test results.This proposed research will provide critical parameters for optimizing CO2 sequestration capacity in this cementitious backfilling material with forming agent.

Ultimately exposed roof area prediction of bauxite deposit goaf based on macro joint damage

The ultimately exposed roof area(UERA)of goaf is crucial to the safety and economics of underground mining.The prediction models do not consider the mechanical weakness of rock mass and ignore the influence of the joint damage factor,causing a large predicted exposure area with a high roof falling risk.This work adopted joint damage factor to derive a new UERA prediction model.The relationships between the UERA(S)and the span ratio(m),the density(k)and the diameter of fracture(d)were analysed by the new prediction model.The results showed that the exposed area S and the span ratio m have a U-shaped curve relationship.The S decreases with the increase of m and then increases when m is beyond 2.The exposed roof area S is in an inversely proportional power-law relationship with the fracture surface density k,and the curvature of the S-k relationship curve decreases when d=0.5 and k>7,and S is close to 0.There is a negative correlation between S and the fracture surface diameter d,the curvature of the S-d curve decreases with the increase of d and k,and the variation rate increases first and then decreases with the increase of d;when k=0.5 and d>9,S is close to 0.The predicted values of the UERA prediction model are 119.3,112.8,and 114.6 m2 with different joint damage parameters,which are slightly smaller than the actual critical exposure area of a roof(S=120 m2).The case study shows that the alternative prediction model is reasonable and acceptable and provides new theoretical support for the underground mining safety of sedimentary bauxite ore.

Numerical simulation to determine the gas explosion risk in longwall goaf areas:A case study of Xutuan Colliery

Underground gassy longwall mining goafs may suffer potential gas explosions during the mining process because of the irregularity of gas emissions in the goaf and poor ventilation of the working face,which are risks difficult to control.In this work,the 3235 working face of the Xutuan Colliery in Suzhou City,China,was researched as a case study.The effects of air quantity and gas emission on the three-dimensional distribution of oxygen and methane concentration in the longwall goaf were studied.Based on the revised Coward’s triangle and linear coupling region formula,the coupled methane-oxygen explosive hazard zones(CEHZs)were drawn.Furthermore,a simple practical index was proposed to quantitatively determine the gas explosion risk in the longwall goaf.The results showed that the CEHZs mainly focus on the intake side where the risk of gas explosion is greatest.The CEHZ is reduced with increasing air quantity.Moreover,the higher the gas emission,the larger the CEHZ,which moves towards the intake side at low goaf heights and shifts to the deeper parts of the goaf at high heights.In addition,the risk of gas explosion is reduced as air quantities increase,but when gas emissions increase to a higher level(greater than 50 m3/min),the volume of the CEHZ does not decrease with the increase of air quantity,and the risk of gas explosion no longer shows a linear downward trend.This study is of significance as it seeks to reduce gas explosion accidents and improve mine production safety.

Mechanisms of support failure and prevention measures under double-layer room mining gobs——A case study: Shigetai coal mine

In the practice of mining shallow buried ultra-close seams,support failure tends to occur during the process of longwall undermining beneath two layers of room mining goaf(TLRMG).In this paper,the factors causing support failure are summarized into geology and mining technology.Combining column lithology and composite beam theory,the key stratum of the rock strata is determined.A finite element numerical simulation is used to analyze the overlying load distribution rule of the main roof for different plane positions of the upper and lower room mining pillars.The tributary area theory(TAT)is adopted to analyze the vertical load distribution of each pillar,and dynamic models of coal pillar instability and main roof fracture are established.Through key block instability analysis,two critical moments are established,of which critical moment A has the greater dynamic load strength.Great economic losses and safety hazards are created by the dynamic load of the fracturing of the main roof.To reduce these negative effects,a method of pulling out supports is developed and two alternative measures for support failure prevention are proposed:reinforcing stope supports in conjunction with reducing mining height,or drilling ground holes to pre-split the main roof.Based on a comprehensive consideration of economic factors and the two categories of support failure causes,the method of reinforcing stope supports while reducing mining height was selected for use on the mining site.

New technological partition for “three zones” spontaneous coal combustion in goaf

On detailed analysis basis of spontaneous coal combustion for the three zones in mine goaf,we use O2 and CO concentrations to divide the three zones of the coal combustion.Through our experiment,we selected a typical working face and focused on the changes in gas concentrations.In order to overcome establishment limitations of actual layout location and underground conditions in a mine goaf,we based our observations on the three zones,combined them with numerical simulation,described the distribution and the changes in O2 and CO concentrations during the coal spontaneous combustion in the goaf,which provided us with an understanding of the distribution of coal spontaneous combustion in the three zones in the form of maps.Essentially,our study summarizes the changes of O2and CO concentrations in the entire goaf and shows them to be in agreement with our observations at the scene.The study shows that it is feasible to divide the three zones,given our comprehensive targets of O2,CO and our numerical simulation.This method avoids the limitation of dividing the three zones with a single target and the likely errors of observations at the scene.In addition,the method offers a basis for optimizing measures of fre-fghting with important and practical effects.

CFD simulations for longwall gas drainage design optimisation

Computational fluid dynamics(CFD) simulation is an effective approach to develop and optimise gas drainage design for underground longwall coal mining. As part of the project supported by the Australian Government Coal Mining Abatement Technology Support Package(CMATSP), threedimensional CFD simulations were conducted to test and optimise a conceptual design which proposes using horizontal boreholes to replace vertical boreholes at an underground coal mine in Australia.Drainage performance between a vertical borehole and a horizontal borehole was first carried out to compare their capacity and effectiveness. Then a series of cases with different horizontal borehole designs were simulated to optimise borehole configuration parameters such as location, diameter, and number of boreholes. The study shows that the horizontal borehole is able to create low pressure sinks that protect the workings from goaf gas ingresses by changing goaf gas flow directions, and that it has the advantage to continuously maintain such low pressure sinks near the tailgate as the longwall advances. An example of optimising horizontal borehole locations in the longwall lateral direction is also given in this paper.

Mechanism and control of ground residual deformation over longwall goaf

The deformation of rupture rock mass in goaf is the main reason for ground terrene residual deformation. Based on field measurement and similar material simulation, the rupture strata structure and its residual deformation characteristics in the longwall goaf and its overburden are pointed out. On the basis of these achievements, the authors propose the mechanism of strengthening rupture rock mass ground and the control measures of deformation resistant structure. Using the case of main coal building in Xinzhuangzi Coal Processing Plant, this paper introduces the influence of strengthening rupture rock mass and deformation resistant structure.

Simulation research and application on response characteristics of detecting water-filled goaf by transient electromagnetic method

Water inrush disasters poses a great threat to the safe exploitation of coal resources.To solve this problem,the transient electromagnetic method(TEM)was proposed to accurately detect the water accumulation in the goaf.The electromagnetic response characteristics of diferent water-flled goaves were studied by electromagnetic feld theory,numerical simulation and feld verifcation.Through the models of 100%water accumulation,50%water accumulation,0%water accumulation,100%water accumulation with collapsed rock,50%water accumulation with collapsed rock and 0%water accumulation with collapsed rock goaf,the characteristics of induced voltage attenuation curves were studied.Meanwhile,the relationship between the attenuation voltage value and area of the transmitting coil,the depth of the goaf,the background resistivity,and the delay time were also simulated.The results illustrate that the attenuation curve of induced voltage presented a regular exponential decay form in the 0%water accumulation model but existed abnormal exaltation for voltage in water-flled model.Through the linear ftting curve,it can be seen that the abnormal intensity of the induced voltage becomes stronger as the distance between the measuring point and the center of the target decrement.Moreover,the abnormal amplitude of the induced voltage increases with the rise of the water accumulation and collapsed rock will weakly reduce the low-resistivity anomalous efect on the water-accumulated goaf.In addition,the response value of the attenuation voltage increased as the area of the transmitting coil increases,but decreased with increasing delay time and increasing background resistivity and depth of the target body.The feld detection results of the Majiliang coal mine also confrmed the theoretical analysis and the numerical simulation.

Stability analysis of tunnel under coal seam goaf:Numerical and physical modeling

The goaf formed by coal seam mining would dramatically reduce the strength and stiffness of the ground in and around the goaf,which is not conducive to tunnel excavation near the mined-out area.By establishing the Finite differential method and Discrete element method coupling numerical analysis method and conducting similar model test,the influence of dip angle,thickness and distance of coal seam goaf on the stability of unsupported tunnel excavation is studied.The results show that when the tunnel under the goaf is exca-vated,the circumferential stress increment increases first and then decreases along the radial direction of the tunnel,the radial stress increment gradually decreases to zero along the radial direction of the tunnel,the displacement is approximately distributed in a trough shape,and the maximum displacement is at the top of the tunnel.The area of the stress loosening zone(SLZ)is negatively correlated with the dip angle and the distance of the goaf,and positively correlated with the thickness.The SLZ near the goaf is larger,and the peak value of the asymmetry is about 1.35.When the thickness of the mined-out area is 1.8–2.1 m,the SLZ and displacement around the tunnel increase sharply and then become stable.When the dip angle of the mined-out area is greater than 30°or the distance exceeds 1.3 times tunnel diameter(D),the asymmetry converges.The research results of this paper are of great importance to the design and construction of tunnel support and the formulation of excavation schemes.

Model test of the group piles foundation of a high-speed railway bridge in mined-out area

The research on the mechanism of pile-soil-cap-goaf interaction and settlement of high-speed railway bridge located in mined-out area is still relatively rare. By taking the pile group of Guanshandi bridge foundation in Hefei- Fuzhou high-speed railway as the prototype, a model test is carried out. According to the similarity theory, the similar constant is derived and the similar model material is determined. Meanwhile, three types of data including the bearing behavior of piles, and the settlement law, and soil among piles are investigated. It can be found that： the influence of goaf on the bearing capacity of pile is inversely to the loading degree, the larger of loading degree, the smaller impact of goaf on the bearing capacity. There is no negative side friction can been found in pile body and the degree of downward tendency for the barycenter of side friction layout is obvious for piles in goaf. Although the bearing ratio of soil resistance under cap is relatively large, the cap effect is suggested be ignored considering the characteristic of goaf. There is a maximum critical value for the uneven settlement of pile group in goaf, and when the value is reached, the uneven settlement stop growing anymore. In addition, the formula for calculating bearing capacity and settlement of pile group in goaf based on test results, theory analysis and related standard is established.