International Journal of Coal Science & Technology最新文献

Traditional dense large-diameter borehole stress load-off techniques reduce the stress levels in the shallow surrounding rock, weaken the bearing capacity of the shallow surrounding rock, and greatly deteriorate the shallow surrounding rock strength and supporting structure, which is not conducive to maintaining the long-term stability of the roadway. Therefore, to address the control problem for the pronounced extrusion deformation in the two sides of a roadway and the overall outward movement of the shallow surrounding rock supported by the sides bolts and anchor cables, as well as to comprehensively consider the on-site construction conditions of the two sides of a test roadway, stress load-off technology for asymmetric hole construction on the two sides of a roadway is proposed. The asymmetric stress load-off technique is a new method; while the shallow surrounding rock of the roadway sides is strongly anchored via a full anchor cable support form, a group of large stress load-off holes near the deep stress peak line of the roadway sides is excavated to relieve pressure and protect the roadway. This technology can transfer the peak stress area of the roadway side deeper into f the surrounding rock without deteriorating the shallow surrounding rock strength and damaging the supporting structure. A numerical simulation analysis of asymmetric stress load-off on the two sides of the roadway was performed, the stress load-off effect evaluation index was established, and the optimal field construction parameters were obtained. The stress load-off parameters obtained from the study are applicable to field engineering practice. Mine pressure data reveal that the test roadway remains intact and stable during the use period when the asymmetric stress load-off technique is adopted.

This study examines the fracture mechanism of cracks and the final blasting effects on defective rock masses under blasting loads. The failure processes of jointed rock with two prefabricated joints are investigated through numerical simulations using a two-dimensional finite element method. Subsequently, simulations are performed to analyze the blasting of granite specimens with various joint arrangements, focusing on the influence of front joint length, inclination angle, and blast hole distance on failure patterns, displacement, velocity, and stress at the joint ends. The numerical results provide a comprehensive summary of various typical failure modes near blast holes and joints for the first time. Specifically, the simulation successfully captures the characteristics of the ring crack zone, wing cracks, and main crack deflection affected by the front joint. Moreover, the results highlight the shielding effect of the front joint, which enhances damage in the medium between the borehole and the joint while exhibiting the opposite effect behind the joint in terms of stress wave propagation. Overall, this study offers objective insights into the mechanics and failure characteristics of jointed rock masses under blasting loads and serves as a valuable reference for the design and optimization of blasting operations.

The gas pressure in front area of heading face is essential to dynamically evaluate coal and gas outburst during coal mining. In this work, a novel inversion model of gas pressure in front area of the heading face was established on premise of the hypothesis that a time-dependent zone of steady flow exists within newly exposed face. The key parameters in the inversion model were obtained based on the gas emission models and field data of gas emission rate in different times, which were used to calculate the volumes of gas emission from different sources. The results show that the percentage of gas emission from the heading face, coal wall and collapsed coal ranges from 7% to 47%, 47% to 82% and 2% to 11%, respectively. Based on the calculated volumes of gas emission and gas pressure inversion model, the gas pressure was obtained and transformed to the gas content. The absolute errors between the gas content tested and transformed in every hour is 0.4%–33%, which proved the rationality of gas pressure inversion model. Furthermore, the daily drifting footage, the radius of gas pressure boundary and the gas permeability coefficient of coal seam were confirmed to have a great effect on the result of gas pressure inversion. The inversion results verify that the speedy excavation can increase the risk of coal and gas outburst. This work produces a useful method for gas disaster prevention and control that converts the gas emission rate to an index of gas pressure within coal seam.

To test the effectiveness of N₂ and CO₂ in preventing coal from spontaneously combusting, researchers used an adiabatic oxidation apparatus to conduct an experiment with different temperature starting points. Non-adsorbed helium (He) was used as a reference gas, and coal and oxygen concentration temperature variations were analyzed after inerting. The results showed that He had the best cooling effect, N₂ was second, and CO₂ was the worst. At 70℃ and 110℃, the impact of different gases on reducing oxygen concentration and the cooling effect was the same. However, at the starting temperature of 150℃, CO₂ was less effective in lowering oxygen concentration at the later stage than He and N₂. N₂ and CO₂ can prolong the flame retardation time of inert gas and reduce oxygen displacement with an initial temperature increase. When the starting temperature is the same, N₂ injection cools coal samples and replaces oxygen more effectively than CO₂ injection. The flame retardancy of inert gas is the combined result of the cooling effect of inert gas and the replacement of oxygen. These findings are essential for using inert flame retardant technology in the goaf.

Water inrush hazard is one of the major threats in mining tunnel construction. Rock particle migration in the seepage process is the main cause of water inrush pathway and rock instability. In this paper, a radial water–rock mixture flow model is established to study the evolution laws of water inrush and rock instability. The reliability of the proposed model is verified by the experimental data from a previous study. Through the mixture flow model, temporal-spatial evolution laws of different hydraulic and mechanical properties are analysed. And the proposed model’s applicability and limitations are discussed by comparing it with the existing water inrush model. The result shows that this model has high accuracy both in temporal evolution and spatial distribution. The accuracy of the model is related to the fluctuation caused by particle migration and the deviation of the set value. During the seepage, the porosity, permeability, volume discharge rate and volume concentration of the fluidized particle increase rapidly due to the particle migration, and this phenomenon is significant near the fluid outlet. As the seepage progresses, the volume concentration at the outlet decreases rapidly after reaching the peak, which leads to a decrease in the growth rate of permeability and porosity, and finally a stable seepage state can be maintained. In addition, the pore pressure is not fixed during radial particle migration and decreases with particle migration. Under the effect of particle migration, the downward radial displacement and decrease in effective radial stress are observed. In addition, both cohesion and shear stress of the rock material decreased, and the rock instability eventually occurred at the outlet.

Coal and gas outburst is a complex dynamic disaster during coal underground mining. Revealing the disaster mechanism is of great significance for accurate prediction and prevention of coal and gas outburst. The geo-dynamic system of coal and gas outburst is proposed. The framework of geo-dynamic system is composed of gassy coal mass, geological dynamic environment and mining disturbance. Equations of stress–damage–seepage interaction for gassy coal mass is constructed to resolve the outburst elimination process by gas extraction with boreholes through layer in floor roadway. The results show the occurrence of outburst is divided into the evolution process of gestation, formation, development and termination of geo-dynamic system. The scale range of outburst occurrence is determined, which provides a spatial basis for the prevention and control of outburst. The formation criterion and instability criterion of coal and gas outburst are established. The formation criterion F₁ is defined as the scale of the geo-dynamic system, and the instability criterion F₂ is defined as the scale of the outburst geo-body. According to the geo-dynamic system, the elimination mechanism of coal and gas outburst—‘unloading + depressurization’ is established, and the gas extraction by boreholes through layer in floor roadway for outburst elimination is given. For the research case, when the gas extraction is 120 days, the gas pressure of the coal seam is reduced to below 0.4 MPa, and the outburst danger is eliminated effectively.

Residual oil zones (ROZs) have high residual oil saturation, which can be produced using CO₂ miscible flooding. At the same time, these zones are good candidates for CO₂ sequestration. To evaluate the coupled CO₂-EOR and storage performance in ROZs for Water-Alternating-CO₂ (WAG) flooding, a multi-compositional CO₂ miscible model with molecular diffusion was developed. The effects of formation parameters (porosity, permeability, temperature), operation parameters (bottom hole pressure, WAG ratio, pore volume of injected water), and diffusion coefficient on the coupled CO₂-EOR and storage were investigated. Five points from the CO₂ sequestration curve and the oil recovery factor curve were selected to help better analyze coupled CO₂-EOR and storage. The results demonstrate that enhanced performance is observed when formation permeability is higher and a larger volume of water is injected. On the other hand, the performance diminishes with increasing porosity, molecular diffusion of gas, and the WAG ratio. When the temperature is around 100 °C, coupled CO₂-EOR and storage performance is the worst. To achieve optimal miscible flooding, it is recommended to maintain the bottom hole pressure (BHP) of the injection well above 1.2 minimum miscibility pressure (MMP), while ensuring that the BHP of the production well remains sufficiently high. Furthermore, the tapered WAG flooding strategy proves to be profitable for enhanced oil recovery, as compared to a WAG ratio of 0.5:1, although it may not be as effective for CO₂ sequestration.

Automatic roadway formation by roof cutting is a sustainable nonpillar mining method that has the potential to increase coal recovery, reduce roadway excavation and improve mining safety. In this method, roof cutting is the key process for stress relief, which significantly affects the stability of the formed roadway. This paper presents a directionally single cracking (DSC) technique for roof cutting with considerations of rock properties. The mechanism of the DSC technique was investigated by explicit finite element analyses. The DSC technique and roof cutting parameters were evaluated by discrete element simulation and field experiment. On this basis, the optimized DSC technique was tested in the field. The results indicate that the DSC technique could effectively control the blast-induced stress distribution and crack propagation in the roof rock, thus, achieve directionally single cracking on the roadway roof. The DSC technique for roof cutting with optimized parameters could effectively reduce the deformation and improve the stability of the formed roadway. Field engineering application verified the feasibility and effectiveness of the evaluated DSC technique for roof cutting.