Prevention and Control Technology for Harmful Toxic Gas Intrusion in High-Fire-Hazard-Risk Areas of Close-Distance Coal Seams

Abstract EN

Fire hazard-risk area in small coal pits can be found in the southern part of the Shigetai Coal Mine, a close-distance coal seam mining sector in the Shendong mining area, which is susceptible to the risk of harmful toxic gas intrusion, seriously threatening the safety of mining around the working surface.

Aiming at this problem, a numerical model representing the mining activity on the close-distance coal seams was established to simulate the movement pattern of overlying strata and the development process of fractures based on the horizontal stress “normalization” technology.

Also, the principal air-leak passageways were detected with the SF6 tracer analysis.

On this basis, the influencing pattern of harmful toxic gas intruding into the working surface can be comprehensively analyzed, providing a basis for effectively preventing and controlling gas intrusion disasters.

The research findings show that, after a lower coal seam has been mined, the caving zone ranges from 73 m to 94 m in height, and the fractured zone tends to develop all the way to the surface.

Furthermore, shear fractures are the major passageways for air leakage, and the occurrence of gas intrusion disasters is basically taking place at the same time frame as the occurrence of roof weighting.

Meanwhile, the harmful toxic gas intrudes the working surface through the fractures on the security coal pillars and shear fractures on the overlying strata.

To prevent intrusion disasters from occurring, the applications of inorganic foaming and curing materials for filling were studied in combination with the actual engineering conditions.

The construction grounds in sections where the fire hazard-risk area in small coal pits have not been stripped were drilled, and filling materials were poured into the goaf to create an isolation belt.

As can be observed from the applied areas, constructing isolation belts to block the major air-leak passageways can effectively prevent the harmful toxic gases from intruding into the working surface, ensuring the safety of mining on the working surface.