Bleeder entry evaluation using condition mapping and numerical modeling

One of the most common critical areas of longwall mining in terms of ground stability are the gateroad and bleeder entries.These critical entries provide much-needed safe access for miners and allow for adequate ventilation required for dilution of hazardous airborne contaminants and must remain open during mining of a multi-panel district.This paper is focused on the stability of the longwall entries subjected to a single abutment load such as bleeders,first tailgate,and last headgate.First tailgate and last headgate are also referred to as blind headgate and tailgate.A study of a longwall district through conditions mapping,support evaluations,and numerical modeling was conducted and evaluated by researchers from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health(NIOSH).The condition mapping and support evaluations were performed on entries that spanned the previous five years of mining and relied on a diverse selection of supports to maintain the functionality of the entry.Numerical modeling was also conducted to evaluate various support types with further investigation and comparison to the condition mapping.The study demonstrated the importance of the abutment load decay versus distance from the gob edge,the potential for a reduction in material handling related injuries,as well as optimal usage of secondary and standing support.

Investigating different methods used for approximating pillar loads in longwall coal mines

Accurately estimating load distributions and ground responses around underground openings play a significant role in the safety of the operations in underground mines.Adequately designing pillars and other support measures relies highly on the accurate assessment of the loads that will be carried by them,as well as the load-bearing capacities of the supports.There are various methods that can be used to approximate mining-induced loads in stratified rock masses to be used in pillar design.The empirical methods are based on equations derived from large databases of various case studies.They are implemented in government approved design tools and are widely used.There are also analytical and numerical techniques used for more detailed analysis of the induced loads.In this study,two different longwall mines with different panel width-to-depth ratios are analyzed using different methods.The empirical method used in the analysis is the square-decay stress function that uses the abutment angle concept,implemented in pillar design software developed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health(NIOSH).The first numerical method used in the analysis is a displacement-discontinuity(DD)variation of the boundary element method,LaModel,which utilizes the laminated overburden model.The second numerical method used in the analysis is Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua(FLAC)with the numerical modeling approach recently developed at West Virginia University which is based on the approach developed by NIOSH.The model includes the 2D slice of a cross-section along the width of the panel with the chain pillar system that also includes the different stratigraphic layers of the overburden.All three methods gave similar results for the shallow mine,both in terms of load percentages and distribution where the variation was more obvious for the deep cover mine.The FLAC3D model was observed to better capture the stress changes observed during the field measurements for both the shallow and deep cover cases.This study allowed us to see the shortcomings of each of these different methods.It was concluded that a numerical model which incorporates the site-specific geology would provide the most precise estimate for complex loading conditions.