The effect of methane emission on air distribution in potash mine production units

Introduction. It has been found that due to light gas (including methane) emission in rooms under development, there develops an additional natural draught between the mine workings. The calculation has shown that methane emission from the rock mass conditions the low value of the additional natural draught. However, even minor additional natural draught interacting with a thermal drop of pressure caused by temperature rise in the conveyor shaft changes the direction of the delivery air stream. While in up the dip blocks and panels the resultant natural draught promotes ventilation, in the down the dip production units it prevents air circulation in the required direction. Research methods. The methods and results of calculating the value and direction of the natural draught for real panels of potash mines at the Upper Kama potash deposit under various conditions have been presented together with the simulation observations of methane distribution in the room with a point source of emission. Results. Model analysis has shown that even under the low amount of gas emission out of the point source in the blind room (of a hole drilled in the roof), the concentration of gas in the gas-air mixture entering the belt heading reaches 2%. Conclusions. To ensure the safety of mining and reduce the risk of emergency when calculating the volume of air required to ventilate the production units, the dynamics of methane emission out of the rock mass should be taken into account as well as its further distribution across the mine workings.

Analysis of Temperature Anomalies during Thermal Monitoring of Frozen Wall Formation

The paper describes a distributed temperature sensing system that was used to monitor the artificial freezing of soils during the construction of a potash mine shaft. The technique of reconstructing the temperature field by solving the inverse problem in the entire volume of frozen soils using the measured temperatures in four thermal monitoring (TM) wells is described. Two local anomalies in temperature distributions in TM wells are described and analyzed theoretically using thermo-hydraulic modeling. The first anomaly concerns the asymmetric temperature distribution in one of the soil layers and is associated with the influence of natural groundwater flow in the horizontal direction. The second anomaly consists of a sharp decrease in water temperature in the section of the TM well located inside the freezing contour. Calculations showed that it is most likely associated with the entry of cold groundwater from the overlying layers of soils through a well filter at a depth of 160 m and the subsequent movement of the water up the well.

Effect of Compressive Behaviours of Tail Salt Filling Materials on Roof Deformation in Potash Mine

To resolve the problem of top mine instability and the consequent ecological damage caused by different grades of ore deposits in the layered mining process, layered filling-pillar-mining-displacement method (LFPMD) is proposed using a potash mine as an example. Based on the operation principles of the tail salt filling system, the mechanical behaviours of the tail salt under initial tamping and overburden loading were obtained through compaction tests in the laboratory. In addition, the mining-filling mass ratio of tail salt was derived. Based on the mining geological conditions of a potash mine in Laos and the compaction characteristics of tail salt, a mechanical model of top control by tail salt and a numerical model of top control by the pillars were established to discuss the stability of the upper-layer top mine and the lower-layer top mine. It was found that when the elastic foundation coefficient of the tail salt is greater than 550 MN·m−3, and the width of the retained pillars is 10 m, stability of the upper layer and the lower layer can be guaranteed. The results revealed that the LFPMD method can ensure stability of the overburden in the stope and reduce environmental damage while treating tail salt underground.

Variable actual stiffness of guides in potash mine shafts

The article addresses serviceability of reinforcement in vertical mine shafts. The mathematical framework is presented for the dynamic processes in the capsule–reinforcement system. The main causes of the dynamic loads in the capsule–reinforcement system are discussed. The importance of the processes in the capsule–reinforcement system during movement of hoists in vertical mine shafts is emphasized. It is asserted that solely computational methods are not enough to analyze processes inside the capsule–reinforcement systems in shafts. It is required to examine actual parameters of shaft reinforcement, in particular, the actual stiffness of shaft guides. The actual measurement procedure of guide stiffness in potash mine shafts is presented. The full-scale tests data are set out in connection with the actual step of reinforcement in shafts. The actual and calculated values of stiffness of shaft guides are compared. Based on the obtained results, the variable stiffness coefficient is derived for the shaft guide stiffness for a few alternative of reinforcement step. Considering the described research findings and the many years-long experience gained in operation of mine shafts, the authors have drawn a conclusion on the necessity to take into account the factor of variable stiffness of guides in shaft design and construction in potash mines in the Upper Kama Potash–Magnesium Salt Deposit, especially in case when the shaft reinforcement step exceeds the project design standards.

Performance Evaluation of Heading-and-Winning Machines in the Conditions of Potash Mines

The authors focus on the process of potash ore production by a mechanized method. They show that currently there are no approved procedures for assessing the performance of heading-and-winning machines operating in the conditions of potash mines. This causes difficulties in determining the field of application of heading-and-winning machines, complicates the search for implicit technical solutions for the modernisation of existing models of mining units, prohibits real-time monitoring of the stability of stope-based technological processes and makes it difficult to assess the performance of the services concerning mining enterprises. The work represents an aggregate assessment of the performance of heading-and-winning machines for potash mines by determining complex indicators describing the technological and technical levels of organising the work in stopes. Such indicators are the coefficients of productivity and energy efficiency, respectively. Experimental studies have been carried out in the conditions of the potash mine of the Verkhnekamskoye potassium-magnesium salt deposit to assess the performance of the latest and most productive Ural-20R heading-and-winning machines manufactured in Russia. Using the above methodological approaches, this paper shows that the unsatisfactory technological performance of the studied machine is due to the low productivity of the mine district transport. The average productivity coefficient was 0.29. At the same time, high values of the energy efficiency coefficient show that the productivity of the machine is on par with design conditions.

IMPROVEMENT OF THE TECHNOLOGY OF DEVELOPMENT OF RESERVES OF THE EMISSION-HAZARDOUS FORMATION OF THE КРII STRATUM IN THE CONDITIONS OF THE EUROCHEM USOLSKIY POTASH MINE

This article presents the results of the authors' research on the construction of a pre-diction map with the division of an explosive potassium formation of the KPII stratum into haz-ardous and non-hazardous areas in the conditions of the mine field of the EuroChem Usolskiy potash mine, it is discovered that the decision rules developed for the other potash mines of the Verkhnekamskoye potash deposit are fundamentally unsuitable for the site concerned and re-quire revision, options of improvement the decision rule are proposed. Recommendations for safe mining operations, implicating a change of the existing mining technology, are presented at the end of the article.