scholarly journals Review of coal pillar lifespan prediction for the Witbank and Highveld coal seams

Author(s):  
J.N. van der Merwe
Keyword(s):  
2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 559-570 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weibing Zhu ◽  
Xiangrui Qi ◽  
Jinfeng Ju ◽  
Jingmin Xu

Abstract Safe and efficient mining of shallow coal seams relies on the understanding and effective control of strata behaviour. Field measurements, theoretical analysis and numerical simulations are presented in this study to investigate the mechanism behind abnormal strata behaviour, such as roof collapse and severe roadway deformation, that occurs in high longwall face-ends under shallow cover. We observed that coal pillars with two sides being mined out become unstable when the cover depth exceeds a certain value. The instability of the coal pillar can alter the fracture line of the overlying strata, triggering a reversed rotation of the ‘curved triangle blocks’ that form after the breakage of the overlying main roof. The revolving blocks apply stress on the roof strata directly above the longwall face-end, resulting in roof collapse. The collapse of both the coal pillars and the roof also leads to the advancement and increase of the overlying abutment pressure, which further causes severe roadway deformation in front of the working face. The strong strata behaviour that occurs in high longwall face-ends with shallow cover is presented in this study and countermeasures are proposed, such as widening or strengthening the coal pillar, or implementing destress blasting. The countermeasures we proposed and the results of our analyses may facilitate the safe mining of shallow coal seams with similar problems in the future, and may improve the safety and efficient working of coal mines.


2013 ◽  
Vol 448-453 ◽  
pp. 3888-3892
Author(s):  
Ke Min Wei ◽  
Mao Sen Zhao ◽  
Ze Kang Wen ◽  
You Ling Fang

Use Taiping coal mines second horizontal (+1100m~+900 m level ) 1#, 3# and 5# coal seam in Panzhihua Baoding as the research object, apply the problem solving nonlinear large deformation finite difference method (FLAC), to research the steep multi-seam mining of pressure distribution and characteristics of fracture zone. The results show that: (1)During the course of three coal mining extraction, the stress of goaf surrounding rocks will be changed. (2)When the nearby coal is mining, the coal pillar come into being stress concentration near the area. when the mining work continues, the goaf will have an effect on the protection pillar, which is similar to the "liberate". the effect of coal pillar and stress concentration nearby will be eased; (3)After the coal mining, plastic failure has occurred over the protection pillar, forming a water guide channel. Research results can be as a reference for similar steep seam mining.


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 628 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junwen Zhang

Split-level longwall gob-side entry (SLGE) has been applied as a special form of small gate pillar mining (or non-coal pillar mining) in thick coal seams. The stability of the coal pillar directly affects the rationality of the layout of the SLGE. Starting from the mining-induced influence around the SLGE, this paper compares the mechanical properties of coal under different mining effects, and studies the rationality of “zero pillar” location against the Xiegou coal mine. The study shows that the key to success of the application of the SLGE is the existence of an intact zone within the triangular coal pillar in spite of double disturbances due to tunneling and coal mining extraction. Laboratory testing shows that the density and uniaxial compressive strength of rock specimens obtained from the triangular coal pillar are smaller than that from the other part of the panel which is concluded to be due to the varied degree of mining-induced influence. The numerical modeling results show that most of the triangular coal pillar is intact after extraction of the panel, and that the peak stress is located in the solid coal beyond the triangular coal pillar. The plastic zone of the triangular coal pillar is only about 1 m after the excavation of the tail gate of the next split-level panel. The physical modeling shows that the tail gate of the next panel is in the destressed zone with only a very small stress fluctuation during the extraction of the next panel. The study shows that the location of the SLGE at Xiegou coal mine is reasonable. SLGE is preferable for ultra-thick coal seams.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Zhuoyue Sun ◽  
Yongzheng Wu ◽  
Zhiguo Lu ◽  
Youliang Feng ◽  
Xiaowei Chu ◽  
...  

Numerical simulations have often been used in close-distance coal seam studies. However, numerical simulations can contain certain subjective and objective limitations, such as high randomness and excessively simplified models. In this study, close-distance coal seams were mechanically modeled based on the half-plane theory. An analytical solution of the floor stress distribution was derived and visualized using Mathematica software. The principal stress difference was regarded as a stability criterion for the rock surrounding the roadway. Then, the evolution laws of the floor principal stress difference under different factors that influence stability were further examined. Finally, stability control measures for the rock surrounding the roadway in the lower coal seam were proposed. The results indicated the following: (1) The principal stress difference of the floor considers the centerline of the upper coal pillar as a symmetry axis and transmits radially downward. The principal stress difference in the rock surrounding the roadway gradually decreases as the distance from the upper coal pillar increases and can be ranked in the following order: left rib > roof > right rib. (2) The minimum principal stress difference zones are located at the center of the left and right “spirals,” which are obliquely below the edge of the upper coal pillar. This is an ideal position for the lower coal seam roadway. (3) The shallowness of the roadway, a small stress concentration coefficient, high level of coal cohesion, large coal internal friction angle, and appropriate lengthening of the working face of the upper coal seam are conducive to the stability of the lower coal seam roadway. (4) Through bolt (cable) support, borehole pressure relief, and pregrouting measures, the roof-to-floor and rib-to-rib convergence of the 13313 return airway is significantly reduced, and the stability of the rock surrounding the roadway is substantially improved. This research provides a theoretical basis and field experience for stabilizing the lower coal seam roadways in close-distance coal seams.


2012 ◽  
Vol 204-208 ◽  
pp. 1395-1400
Author(s):  
Chuan Wei Zang ◽  
Chuan Le Ma ◽  
Xue An Zhuang

During the extraction of steeply inclined coal seams, the coal recovery ratio is low be-cause of the coal pillar loss and the production of waste rock is high due to lots of rock roadways which causes serious environmental pollution. This status is conflicted with the strategy of Clean Coal Mining and Green Coal Mining in China, so it is necessary to develop new coal mining method. In this paper, Downward Stratified Gangue Self-filling Method on the Flexible Shield (DSGSMFS) is put forward first. It means that the coal face is lain horizontally and advances along the dip; the flexible shield is used to separate the gob area; the waste rocks are self-filled downward to the top the shield; the coal is broken by drilling and blasting method under the shield, and the broken coal is transported by the electrical winch and the scraping mucker; the flexible shield moves downward automatically by the weight of itself and waste rocks. Field test shows that the strata displacement is effectively controlled by using DSGSMFS, so some coal pillars are recovered; as a result the problem of large quantity gangue and low coal recovery ratio in steep coal seam is solved. DSGSMFS is proved to be a new hopeful and effective coal green mining method.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Yong Zhang ◽  
Jinkun Yang ◽  
Jiaxuan Zhang ◽  
Xiaoming Sun ◽  
Chen Chen ◽  
...  

Mining in close distance coal seams (CDCSs) is frequently associated with engineering disasters because of the complicated nature of stress distribution within CDCSs. In order to establish a layout of a roadway to minimize the occurrence of disasters associated with mining CDCS, here the spatial and temporal evolution of stress distribution during the multiworking face mining of a CDCS was explored through numerical simulation based on the engineering and geological conditions of the Nantun Coal Mine. The numerical simulation results indicate that, after the extraction of adjacent multiple working faces, the spatial distribution of stress can be characterized with areas of increased, reduced, and intact stress. The superposed stress of inclined seams that are very close to each other propagates through coal pillars in the bottom floor, and this propagation follows neither the line along the axis of the coal pillar nor the line perpendicular to the direction of the floor. It instead propagates along a line angled with the axis of the coal pillar. The roadway can be arranged in the area with reduced stress, to improve its the stability. Based on the computed spatial and temporal evolution of stress, an optimized layout of roadway was proposed. This layout features a reasonable interval between the mining roadway and a minimal proportion of increased stress areas along the mining roadway and is aligned with geological structures.


Author(s):  
D. D. Golubev

Gently dipping coal seams of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin are cut exclusively by longwalls with preliminary drivage of twin gate ways. At the same time, the source of self-ignition in mines is pillars of coal left in mined-out areas. Endogenous fire hazard grows with higher losses of loose coal in mined-out areas due to a persistent increase in mining depth and in size of longwalls. This research aims at development of an alternative mining technology for gently dipping coal seams to reduce the risk of initiation of self-ignition sources in mined-out areas and at the determination of parameters of the technology elements as functions of coal seam thickness and mining depth. A new concept of preparatory works and actual mining in selfignitable coal seams is described. The study results obtained with numerical modeling of the stress-state behavior of rock mass and the developed technology elements at different stages of longwalling are presented. The studies show that endogenous fire hazard is reduced by means of extraction of coal pillar on the same line with face and due to elimination of aerological connection between the operating longwall and earlier mined-out area owing to construction of a separation belt made of solidifying materials between them. The cross-effect of the widths of the solidifying material belt and coal pillar as the elements of the developed technology is estimated.


2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 1265-1278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Zhang ◽  
Dongsheng Zhang ◽  
Dahong Qi ◽  
Wenmin Hu ◽  
Ziming He ◽  
...  

The primary problem needed to be solved in mining close coal seams is to understand quantitatively the floor failure depth of the upper coal seam. In this study, according to the mining and geological conditions of close coal seams (#10 and #11 coal seams) in the Second Mining Zone of Caocun Coal Mine, the mechanical model of floor failure of the upper coal seam was built. Calculation results show that the advanced abutment pressure caused by the mining of the upper coal seam, resulted in the floor failure depth with a maximum of 26.1 m, which is 2.8 times of the distance between two coal seams. On this basis, the mechanical model of the remaining protective coal pillar was established and the stress distribution status under the remaining protective coal pillar in the 10# coal seam was then theoretically analysed. Analysis results show that stress distribution under the remaining protective coal pillar was significantly heterogeneous. It was also determined that the interior staggering distance should be at least 4.6 m to arrange the gateways of the #209 island coalface in the lower coal seam. Taken into account a certain safety coefficient (1.6–1.7), as well as reducing the loss of coal resources, the reasonable interior staggering distance was finally determined as 7.5 m. Finally, a novel method using radon was initially proposed to detect the floor failure depth of the upper coal seam in mining close coal seams, which could overcome deficiencies of current research methods.


2013 ◽  
Vol 734-737 ◽  
pp. 777-780
Author(s):  
Jian Quan Tang ◽  
Yu Ting Hou ◽  
Chao Zhang ◽  
Jian Hao

Numerical simulation analysis were done on breaking arch developing and evolving process of both single stope and coal seams mining field by FLAC3D. Results show that in single strope's advancing process, breaking arch's height would be different as strope's length changes, and breaking arch's height was decided by strope's length; in composite strope, as the coal pillar increasing, composite strope's breaking arch gradually develops from superposition state to independent state; as the strope's length changing composite strope's superposition state tend to balance


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 627-646 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenrui He ◽  
Fulian He ◽  
Yongqiang Zhao

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