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.

Safety analysis of stability of surface gas drainage boreholes above goaf areas

As longwall caving mining method prevails rapidly in China coal mines, amount of gas emission from longwall faces and goaf area increased significantly. Using traditional gas drainage methods, such as drilling upward holes to roof strata in tailgate or drilling inseam and cross-measure boreholes, could not meet methane drainage requirements in a gassy mine. The alternative is to drill boreholes from surface down to the Iongwall goaf area to drain the gas out. As soon as a coal seam is extracted out, the upper rock strata above the goaf start to collapse or become fractured depending upon the rock characteristics and the height above the coal seam. During overlying rock strata being fractured, boreholes in the area may be damaged due to ground movement after the passage of the Iongwall face. The sudden damage of a borehole may cause a Iongwall production halt or even a serious mine accident. A theoretical calculation of the stability of surface boreholes in mining affected area is introduced along with an example of determination of borehole and casing diameters is given for demonstration. By using this method for the drilling design, the damage of surface boreholes caused by excessive mining induced displacement can be effectively reduced if not totally avoided. Borehole and casing diameters as well as characteristics of filling materials can be determined using the proposed method by calculating the horizontal movement and vertical stain at different borehole depths.

Prediction of coal structure using particle size characteristics of coalbed methane well cuttings

Severely deformed coal seams barely deliver satisfactory gas production. This research was undertaken to develop a new method to predict the positions of deformed coals for a horizontal CBM well. Firstly, the drilling cuttings of different structure coals were collected from a coal mine and compared. In light of the varying cuttings characteristics for different structure coals, the coal structure of the horizontally drilled coal seam was predicted. And the feasibility of this prediction method was discussed. The result shows that exogenetic fractures have an important influence on the deformation of coal seams. The hardness coefficient of coal decreases with the deformation degree in the order of primary structural, cataclastic and fragmented coal. And the expanding-ratio of gas drainage holes and the average particle size of cuttings increase with the increase of the deformation degree. The particle size distribution of coal cuttings for the three types of coals is distinctive from each other. Based on the particle size distribution of cuttings from X-2 well in a coal seam, six sections of fragmented coal which are unsuitable for perforating are predicted. This method may benefit the optimization of perforation and fracturing of a horizontal CBM well in the study area.

松软破碎煤体瓦斯抽采钻场预加固技术研究与应用

针对松软破碎煤体施工大直径长距离瓦斯抽采钻孔容易出现塌孔、卡钻导致钻孔失效的难题,采用理论分析、现场测试和井下试验的方法,通过煤岩体强度和结构探测,得出了煤岩体的结构完整性和强度,并根据围岩特点确定了注浆机理以粘结松软煤体、增强松软煤体整体性为主,适当增加煤体强度,达到防止钻孔塌孔的目的,在此基础上设计了注浆加固参数和单孔全长分段注浆工艺,该工艺施工工程量小,工艺简单,加固速度快。井下试验表明,煤岩体注浆加固后围岩强度增加57%,完整性提高58.8%,钻孔无塌孔出现,有效保证了长钻孔的顺利实施。

孔周煤岩体渐进性破坏过程裂隙和应变能演化特征

为探究瓦斯抽采钻孔孔周煤岩体渐进性破坏过程中裂隙和应变能演化特征,设计了完整试样和含孔试样,开展渐进性破坏试验;通过VIC-3D观测系统,获取试样表面变形情况,计算并分析试样表面裂隙动态演化过程,裂隙分布情况及应变能演化特征。研究结果表明:含孔试样抗压强度较低,且钻孔孔周产生较多裂隙,孔上下两侧变形严重,表明在实际钻孔施工过程中,煤岩体抗压强度会大幅下降,钻孔周围产生较多裂隙,从而造成钻孔破坏,甚至塌孔;渐进性破坏过程中,孔周煤岩体表面裂隙发生动态演化,其动态演化过程与加载应力呈对应关系,同时通过对比裂隙张开量和错动量演化特征,判定试样破坏的主要裂隙类型为张开、错动混合型裂隙;在渐进性破坏过程中,孔周煤岩体表面裂隙演化过程与局部化区域变形能密度累积保持对应关系,不同局部化区域的应变能密度演化特征不同,体现出孔周煤岩体在渐进性破坏过程中存在内部能量调整。

考虑流变特性的抽放钻孔应力分布和移动变形规律研究

为了研究抽放钻孔周围煤体的应力分布及移动变形规律,分析了钻孔周围煤体的力学特性,建立了考虑煤的塑性软化和扩容特性的黏弹塑性模型,得到了煤体应力、位移、孔径变化和卸压范围的表达式,对比分析了软硬煤层钻孔的应力分布及卸压效果,研究了抽放钻孔孔径变化规律,解释了软煤层钻孔抽放体积分数快速衰减的原因。研究结果表明:钻孔周围煤体具有塑性软化、扩容和流变特性,软煤层钻孔具有更好的卸压效果,蠕变变形更为剧烈,在短时间内就可能发生失稳破坏,阻塞瓦斯抽放的通道,致使瓦斯抽采体积分数迅速下降;硬煤层钻孔直径虽有缩小但仍处于稳定状态,并不发生堵孔现象,但是到井田深部由于应力增大,蠕变变形加剧,就有可能发生失稳破坏。研究成果与生产实践具有较好的一致性,可以为瓦斯抽采参数的确定提供理论指导。