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.

A rapid and accurate direct measurement method of underground coal seam gas content based on dynamic diffusion theory

Coal seam gas content is frequently measured in quantity during underground coal mining operation and coalbed methane(CBM)exploration as a significant basic parameter.Due to the calculation error of lost gas and residual gas in the direct method,the efficiency and accuracy of the current methods are not inadequate to the large area multi-point measurement of coal seam gas content.This paper firstly deduces a simplified theoretical dynamic model for calculating lost gas based on gas dynamic diffusion theory.Secondly,the effects of various factors on gas dynamic diffusion from coal particle are experimentally studied.And sampling procedure of representative coal particle is improved.Thirdly,a new estimation method of residual gas content based on excess adsorption and competitive adsorption theory is proposed.The results showed that the maximum error of calculating the losing gas content by using the new simplified model is only 4%.Considering the influence of particle size on gas diffusion law,the particle size of the collected coal sample is below 0.25 mm,which improves the measurement speed and reflects the safety representativeness of the sample.The determination time of gas content reduced from 36 to 3 h/piece.Moreover,the absolute error is 0.15–0.50 m^3/t,and the relative error is within 5%.A new engineering method for determining the coal seam gas content is developed according to the above research.