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Saturation characteristics of water and capillary pressure are important for hydrofracturing or water flooding, which is widely adopted in dust suppression, methane displacement, and gas and coal outburst elimination. In this paper, we have studied the water saturation characteristics of coal samples with different coal ranks and their effect on capillary pressure. It was found that the isothermal adsorption of water vapor from coal samples can be divided into three processes: monolayer adsorption, multilayer adsorption, and capillary condensation. The dent isothermal adsorption model can well describe water vapor adsorption of coal samples, indicating water molecules were first adsorbed on the first‐order adsorption site of pore surfaces at low relative humidity and then on the second‐order adsorption site with increasing relative humidity. An obvious hysteresis occurred in the process of water imbibition and drainage. A capillary pressure of ~325 MPa or even larger was required to displace the water from the coal. Besides, micro‐ and mesopores play a more important role in capillary pressure. The capillary pressure of coal samples was positively correlated with wettability at lower water saturation, but it is not significant at higher capillary pressures. Therefore, the article's results provide a new direction for solving the water‐locking effect in coal seams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outburst of coal and gas is a major hazard in underground coal mining where coal seam gas content/pressure is high. A cone‐shaped cavity is often observed in the coal seam after bursting, implying the likely mechanical structure being formed during outburst propagation. Although the mechanism for outburst initiation and propagation is very complex, mining‐induced fracturing and damage of the coal material is an essential component. This paper investigates the mechanical conditions that are essential to initiate fractures around a spherical cavity, a simplified form of the cone‐shaped outburst cavity. The cavity is assumed to be situated in an infinite isotropic homogeneous elastic body under internal gas pressure and far‐field hydrostatic compressive stresses as a further simplification for analytical investigation. The analytical conditions under which circumferential and radial fractures can initiate around the cavity are formulated, based on extensional strain criterion for fracture initiation. Low internal pressure on the cavity surface and high far‐field compression lead to circumferential fractures. In contrast, high internal pressure and low far‐field compression lead to radial fractures. Subsequent numerical simulations with FRACOD3D and FRACOD, the 3D and 2D in‐house fracture simulation codes, were carried out to investigate fracture patterns around a cavity and inclusion. The simulation results confirmed the analytical results, including fracture shapes and the size of fractured zone. These results provide a new angle to understand the complex mechanism of outbursts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coal and gas outbursts are anthropogenic hazards that can be divided into four stages: preparation, occurrence, development, and termination. Studying the influence of gas on coal damage and energy changes during the formation of outbursts is highly important for investigating the entire hazard. In this paper, laboratory experiments were performed on samples. The energy changes and failure mechanism of coal under different gas pressures were revealed, and a seepage model was established based on compressibility and adsorption to investigate gas-induced coal damage. The results demonstrated that gas pressure caused initial damage within the coal, resulting in nonlinear deformation and strength deterioration of the coal. Gas-induced damage affected the energy evolution mechanism of coal under loading, as pressure caused the premature release of energy at the tips of internal microcracks and reduced the ability to accumulate energy. These changes increased the proportion of dissipative energy under unstable conditions. The combined acoustic emission (AE) parameters—rising angle (RA) and average frequency (AF)—were used to study the fracture mode of gas-containing coal. As the gas pressure increased from 0 to 4 MPa, the RA–AF distribution pattern changed from tensile failure to tensile–shear composite failure, with the proportion of shear cracks increasing from 0.30% to 25.44%. As the complexity of the crack network increased, the randomness of crack propagation increased, and the fracture surface roughness parameters, arithmetic mean height S a , root mean square height S q , and maximum height S z increased by 90.33%, 94.02%, and 81.70%, respectively. These findings could contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the underlying mechanism of coal and gas outbursts and guide for predicting and preventing these hazards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the effects of gas hydrates on the prevention and control of coal and gas protrusions, this paper reports the results of acoustic emission experiments on coal bodies containing gas hydrates with different saturation levels. The results showed that few acoustic emission events were generated in the elasticity stages of coal bodies containing gas hydrates, and the first sudden increase in the number of ringing counts generally occurred before and after the yielding point. Additionally, the acoustic emission events in the yielding stage were more active, and the cumulative number of ringing counts increased faster. The peak ringing counts appeared around the damage point, and a small number of acoustic emission events were still generated after destruction of the coal samples. The cumulative ringing counts decreased linearly with increasing saturation. The effect of saturation on the cumulative ringing counts in the elasticity stage of the gas hydrate-containing coal samples was small, but the difference between the cumulative ringing counts in the yielding stage and those in the destruction stage was larger. The total cumulative ringing counts and the cumulative ringing counts during each stage for the gas hydrate-containing coal samples decreased with increasing enclosure pressure. The energy and amplitude of the loading process were consistent with the trend for the ringing counts. The acoustic emission ringing counts of gas-containing coals were greater than those of gas hydrate-containing coals in the yielding and destructing stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coal and gas outburst is a type of coal mine dynamic disaster with complex causes and serious consequences. In China, the number and scale of outburst disasters are among the highest in the world. It is an inevitable stage for outburst that the mechanical instability of the combination of intact coal and tectonic coal (CICTC) in strata. The dip angle of the interface has an important influence on the instability of CICTC-containing gas. To further understand the instability process of CICTC, the uncoordinated deformation of CICTC was defined. According to this, three strain conditions were delimited. The variations of stress under three strain conditions were analyzed, the expressions of additional interfacial stress were established. Then, based on the Mohr–Coulomb criterion, the strength characteristics and failure forms were analyzed. It was found that the dip angle deflects the principal stress in the interface, and the influences of additional stresses on the value of principal stress are opposite. These two reasons make the principal stress state and instability process of the combination complicated. Finally, combined with actual parameters, the instability processes of CICTC under different stress paths and buried depths were studied. It can be found that the failures of CICTC under different stress paths were concentrated appearing in the tectonic coal body, intact coal interface, and tectonic coal interface. With the increase of buried depth, the initial maximum principal stress increases and the reduction from additional stresses to the strength of intact coal interface enhances, which makes the combination damage easily and the failure form change. The research results in this paper can provide a theoretical basis to prevent and control the outburst of the combination containing gas considering the dip angle of the interface. Highlights: The uncoordinated deformation of combination considering the dip angle was first defined. The expressions of additional interfacial stress of combination considering the dip angle were established The influences of different stress paths and buried depths for the instability of combination were discussed quantificationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigated the effects of gas pressure, in-situ stress, and coal strength on coal and gas outbursts (CGO) based on the laboratory CGO experimental data. Based on the hypothesis of the comprehensive of CGO, the single-factor control variable method was used to analyze and evaluate the relative outburst intensity, the characteristics of outburst holes, the distribution of pulverized coal, the drops of outburst gas pressure, and the pulverized coal density under different outbursts experimental condition. The improved CGO energy equation and instability criterion are proposed as a direction to study the occurrence of CGO as an energy evolution direction. Furthermore, the results shows that the initial outburst gas pressure was 0.45 MPa during the experimental conditions of in-situ stress was 5 MPa, and the coal strength was 0.24 MPa. The gas pressure is directly proportional to the relative outburst intensity, while the in-situ stress and coal strength are inversely proportional to the relative outburst intensity. After the CGO occurred, the outburst coal always show spallation and pulverization characteristics. The results highlight that the gas pressure plays a key role in pulverizing and throwing out the pulverized coal, and the in-situ stress mainly plays a role in destroying the coal, and the coal strength plays a resistance role during the CGO occurs. It is also found that pulverized coal particles size less than 0.28 mm can be used to represent the distribution pattern of the total weight of outburst pulverized coal particles in the different outburst interval. These results clearly illustrate that using effective methods to control gas pressure, in-situ stress, and coal strength has an important role in preventing and controlling CGO on coal mining sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mining-induced disturbance to stress fields can lead to many engineering disasters such as rock bursts, roadway collapses, and coal and gas outbursts. The evolution characteristic of abutment pressure during the mining process is of great significance for prevention of engineering disasters. Based on a case study of No.12526E Panel in Xieqiao coalmine of Huainan mining area in China, this paper investigated the evolution characteristic of abutment pressure during the retreat mining process. A field measurement was performed using three-dimensional (3D) pressure sensor, and the abutment pressure was continuously monitored during the mining process. The monitoring results indicate that the abutment pressure curve can be divided into strong interference area and weak interference area. Further, the evolution characteristics of abutment pressure during the retreat mining process were simulated using a 3D discrete-element program. Periodic caving characteristics of rock strata were obtained, and the major causes of stress concentration and the bearing stress inflection point were analyzed. With the periodic caving of the overlying strata, the stress inflection point appears, and fracture cracks are generated and hinder stress recovery. Finally, the detailed dynamic evolution process of the abutment pressure as well as the deformation and caving characteristics of the overlying strata of the No.12526E Panel were analyzed. The coal and rock near the mined-out area undergo a sharp stress concentration and reduction, which would lead to damage to the rock mass near the mined-out area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rock and gas outburst is one of the most significant natural hazards faced by the mining industry. In the last decade, this issue has appeared in firm rock mining (including copper ore mines) in addition to coal mining. A number of methods have been developed for coal mining to assess the hazard posed by gasogeodynamic phenomena, but in the case of copper ore mines, no studies have led to forecasts of this risk. To face the challenge, the authors decided to propose their own concept of risk assessment principles based on a threshold analysis of the phenomenon and a continuous analysis using fuzzy logic. A series of tests were performed to support the paper, investigating selected parameters which directly affect the risk. The evaluation principles for gasogeodynamic phenomena presented herein were the result of experimental investigations carried out by the authors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coalbed methane energy resources waste, environmental pollution and miner's health remain challenging problems in worldwide mining operations accompanied by coal-gas outbursts; thus, the safe and efficient yield of these resources plays a vital role in the world's energy market. The tectonic coal development is a significant geological feature of coal and gas outburst sites, and the study of coal and gas outburst mechanism should be based on more precise geological occurrence characteristics. In this paper, the geological characteristics of coal and gas outburst sites were analyzed. The failure law of coal body under the stratified occurrence of tectonic coal and raw coal seam with different thickness was studied. The mechanical equilibrium equation of non-synchronous deformation of tectonic coal and raw coal was constructed, the initiation criterion of coal and gas outburst was established based on the support body model, and a case study was carried out. The results show that with the thickness increase of the tectonic coal seam, the peak displacement of the driving face increases. The outburst start-up and development of coal and gas outburst, coal and gas extrusion outburst and coal and gas collapse outburst were deeply analyzed, as well as the internal reasons of the occurrence of coal-gas outburst portent are explained, based on the support body model. The development process from the start to the end of coal and gas outburst is revealed, and a new perspective is proposed for the prevention and control of coal and gas outburst: improving the strength of support body is also of great significance for the prevention and control of coal and gas outburst. • Asynchronous deformation induced coal-gas outburst mechanism. • The initiation criterion of coal and gas outburst was established. • The start and development process of the three types outburst were revealed. • New theoretical method and direction into dynamic disaster monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• 1 Stress distribution was recalculated by stress-softening and prominent dilatancy. • 2 Gas-bearing coal under impact loading was a compaction followed by ruin process. • 3 Measures principles were mainly aimed at fracture and stress-concentration areas. • 4 Preliminary goal-reaching parameter based on principles was proposed and applied. As the increasing demand for coal and the depletion of shallow coal resources, the tendency of coal mining in China is progressively shifting to deeper areas, which brings about a circumstance where the frequency and intensity of coal and gas outburst accidents have further deteriorated. Nowadays, there are many outburst prevention measures being applied on site, while this disaster still occurs from time to time. Therefore, to better improve the preventing outcome of them, this paper came forward with some principles, based on the mechanical theory of deep mining and damage evolution procedure concerning coal containing gas underneath the impact load. The primary conclusions were as follows: the stresses, strains, and associated widths in the three areas, namely fracture area, plastic area, and elastic area, in front of the working face were recalculated by considering stress-softening and dilatancy of coal mass. The damage evolution of gas-bearing coal mass under impact loading was displayed in the LS-DYNA numerical simulation as a process of compaction followed by destruction. The proposed principles could be split into two perspectives, one for the fracture area, specifically, to minimize the descending of the coal mass's strength in this area; another for the stress-concentration zone, namely, to abate the thrust due to extrusion and deformation, on the coal body which was located in the front area. According to those principles, a preliminary goal-reaching parameter was proposed and it was implemented for the evaluation of advanced drilling. The results will cooperate to rationalize the design and layout of local outburst prevention measures, thereby enhancing the efficiency of control and ameliorating the deteriorating scenario of outburst disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]