Study on Gas Control Methods Optimization for Mining Safety

Effective gas control is of significance for safe efficient coal mining in Haizi Coal Mine and other mines with similar geological conditions. This study concentrates on gas control theories and techniques in multiple coal seams of Haizi Coal Mine (No. 7, No. 8, No. 9, and No. 10 coal seam from top to bottom). To minimize risk of high gas emission and outburst hazard, No. 10 seam was mined first as a protective seam prior to the mining of its overlying outburst-prone No. 7, No. 8, and No. 9 seam. Four gas drainage measures were determined for gas control, including cross-measure boreholes into overlying coal seams, surface goaf wells, roof boreholes, and roof gas drainage roadway. These gas control measures, if implemented through entire coal seam extraction, would be possibly uneconomic. An investigation was undertaken to analyze effects of those four measures on gas emission, methane concentration, and gas drainage quantity in No. 2 1024 mining panel of No. 10 seam. Results indicate that the highly expensive gas drainage measure of a roof roadway has poor drainage performance and could be effectively replaced by roof boreholes. When adopting the optimized combination of gas drainage measures, drainage efficiency of No. 7 seam, No. 8 seam, and No. 9 seam could reach 58.64% and decrease gas pressure to be below 0.74 MPa. Outcomes of this study could provide beneficial guidance not only for gas drainage design optimization in Haizi Coal Mine but also for other multiple-seam mines with similar mining and geological conditions, for increasing gas drainage efficiency and guaranteeing mining safety.

Gas Distribution Mechanism in Goaf during Combined Drainage of Upper Corner Buried Pipeline and Intubation for Thick Coal Seams

The prevention of gas overrun in the panel is one of the key issues on green mining. In this paper, a physical goaf model was established based on the geological production conditions of a coal seam in a coal mine in Henan Province, and the combined drainage technology by burying and spilling pipeline in the upper corner was proposed. The Fluent software was used to simulate the changes of gas mass fraction and flow field distribution when the gas is extracted from the goaf without the gas pipeline, with a single buried pipeline, and with the combination of buried and spilled pipelines. Analysis and simulation showed that in the absence of drainage pipelines, the gas concentrations in both the return airway and the upper corner are up to 1.2%, which failed to meet the gas prevention and control standard on the mine. In the case of gas drainage with a single buried pipeline, the average gas concentration in the return airway was 0.7%, and only the gas concentration in the upper corner was up to 1.1%, which failed to meet the gas control standards on the mine’s panel. However, the maximum gas concentration in the combined drainage was reduced from 1.1% to 0.6%, which indicates that the technology can greatly reduce gas concentration, but there is still a gap from the mine’s gas control standard. Therefore, the impacts of the lengths of pipelines buried in different goafs on the gas drainage effect in the goaf were studied, and it was concluded that the reasonable length of pipelines buried in the goaf under the geological conditions was 20 m. This technology not only solves the problem of gas overrun in the panel but also realizes the utilization of gas resources in the goaf. The research results are of guiding significance for pipeline laying and the drainage technology in the upper corners on the U-shaped ventilation panel.

Feasibility, safety, and economic consequences of using minimal flow anaesthesia by Maquet FLOW-i equipped with automated gas control

Low fresh gas flow rates are recommended because of their benefits, however, its use is limited due to associated risks. The main purpose of this study was to investigate whether 300 mL of fresh gas flow that practised with automated gas control mode is applicable and safe. The second aim is to show that automated mode can provide economic benefits. Sixty hepatectomy cases who suitable criterias were included to cohort study in three groups as prospective, sequential, observational. An operating room were allocated only for this study. 300 mL fresh gas flow with automated mode (groupA3), 600 mL fresh gas flow with automated mode (groupA6) and, 600 mL fresh gas flow with manually (groupM6) was applied. Patients’ respiratory, hemodynamic parameters (safety), number of setting changes, O2 concentration in the flowmeter that maintained FiO2:0.4 during the low flow anaesthesia (feasibility) and comsumption data of anaesthetic agent and CO2 absorber (economical) were collected and compared. p < 0.05 was accepted as statistical significance level. No significant differences were detected between the groups in terms of demographic data and duration of operation. Safety datas (hemodynamic, respiratory, and tissue perfusion parameters) were within normal limits in all patients. O2 concentration in the flowmeter that maintained FiO2:0.4 was statistically higher in groupA3 (92%) than other groups (p < 0.001) but it was still within applicable limits (below the 100%). Number of setting changes was statistically higher in groupM6 than other groups (p < 0.001). The anaesthetic agent consumption was statistically less in groupA3 (p = 0.018). We performed fresh gas flow of 300 mL by automated mode without deviating from the safety limits and reduced the consumption of anaesthetic agent. We were able to maintain FiO2:0.4 in hepatectomies without much setting changes, and we think that the automated mode is better in terms of ease of practise.

The Drainage Horizon Determination of High Directional Long Borehole and Gas Control Effect Analysis

In order to effectively solve the problem of gas concentration overrun in the upper corner of goaf and tailentry during the mining of panel 9303 in Anshun Coal Mine, based on the advantages of controllable trajectory and wide coverage area of directional drilling technology, high directional long boreholes are arranged in tailentry 9303 to extract pressure relief gas. Firstly, the principle of high directional long borehole drainage technology is introduced, and the fracture evolution of overlying strata is obtained through using numerical simulation, theoretical calculation, and field practice, and the fracture evolution range is determined to be 6–12.69 m, and rationality of fracture height obtained by theoretical analysis and numerical simulation is verified by the method of field borehole peep observation. Through the analysis, it is concluded that the best location of the final hole is within the range of 6–12.69 m of the roof of coal seam 9#. The field practice has proved that the final hole position of the high directional long borehole is arranged at 12 m from the roof of coal seam 9#, and the average gas extraction concentration can reach 40%–50% after the borehole enters the stable extraction stage, the purity of gas extraction is up to 8.5 m3/min, and the gas concentration in the upper corner of panel 9303 is stable below 0.5% during mining, which achieves good gas drainage and control effect and provides a new way for gas control under similar geological conditions.