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• 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]

• Increasing water content in coal can reduce the elastic modulus and coal strength. • Water in coal reduces the initial gas diffusion speed and change adsorption constant. • Loosening blasting before water injection can promote cracks and water infusion. • Water injection after blasting reduces the gas outburst potential greatly. Gas outburst is a serious disaster in deep mining. In this paper, we first study the effect of water content on gas outburst, and found that increasing the water content of coal can significantly reduce the elastic modulus and uniaxial compressive strength, which is beneficial in reducing the peak stress concentration in the roadway and pushing the peak stress deeper. We also found that by increasing the water content of the coal seam, the firmness coefficient increases, while the initial speed of gas diffusion decreases simultaneously. Increasing the water content of the coal seam can also change the Langmuir adsorption constant of coal, reduce the a value of the limit adsorption capacity, increase the b value of the adsorption capacity, and reduce the amount of desorption gas in the coal. These studies indicate that increasing the water content of coal can significantly reduce the risk of gas outbursts. To increase the water injection volume, the technology of promoting coal seam infusion by blasting has been proposed. Blasting promotes equilibrium distribution in the stress field and generate new fractures, which promotes the water injection. In the 8th coal mine in the Pingdingshan coal field, the test results indicate that after loosening blasting, the water injection of a single borehole increased by an average of 54.6 times under the injection pressure of 3–7 MPa. The water content of coal is improved significantly, and the prediction index value of the gas outburst is reduced significantly. This technology is important for gas control in similar coal mines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Closed pores, which have been confirmed to exist in coal, have a dual significance in illustrating the tremendous gas outburst content in coal mining and ascertaining the exact methane content in coal, although it is unknown if this methane can be exploited and utilized. In this paper, the principal objective is to explore the evolution and formation mechanisms of closed pores, regarding which there is a lack of knowledge and understanding. We investigated the varieties of closed pore contents in coalification, combining the small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and liquid nitrogen adsorption methods (LNA), and simultaneously analyzed the surface topography of closed pores by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The closed pore volume represents a low-high-low evolution trend during coalification owing to the appearance of gas pores in the pyrogenic hydrocarbon generation stage. However, the specific surface area increases uniformly due to the increase in the number of micro-pores. The tectonic deformation effect impels the increase of closed pores, which reflected in the larger pore volume and specific surface area in strong deformation coal than that in weak deformation coal. The genesis of closed pores can be summarized as a result of heterogeneous matrix shrinkage, the tectonic compressive stress and the tectonic shear stress. Finally, this work provides a novel method to investigate the mechanism of geological CO 2 sequestration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Application problems of the Hodot's energy criterion were found. • The characterization methods of coal deformation energy and gas expansion energy were determined. • The influence mechanism of coal deformation energy on outburst was discussed. • A spatiotemporal evolution model of the release of outburst energy was proposed. Coal deformation energy and gas expansion energy are the main power sources for coal and gas outbursts (called outbursts for short). Although the combined effect hypothesis of the outbursts has been widely recognized, the contribution of the coal deformation energy to the outbursts is always despised compared with the gas expansion energy. In this paper, the famous energy criterion for outburst trigger proposed by Hodot was reviewed systematically. It was found that Hodot's energy criterion pays more attention to coal deformation energy and almost ignores gas expansion energy, different from the views in most literatures related to outburst energy. The characterization methods of coal deformation energy and gas expansion energy were summarized. Experimental results show that the deformation energy of tectonic coal with high outburst risk has a power function relationship with stress and the power exponent is between 1 and 2, indicating that the deformation properties of tectonic coal is between soil and elastomer. The releasing mode of the deformation energy of tectonic coal is different from that of intact coal, that is, the deformation energy of intact coal and tectonic coal mainly releases outward and dissipates inward respectively after they are damaged. The coal deformation energy was proved to have the same order of magnitude with the gas expansion energy, about 102 to 103 kJ/t. A new energy release model for whole process of outbursts was established to discuss the role of coal deformation energy in actual outbursts. It was finally determined that the pre-release of deformation energy of tectonic coal is the necessary condition for the accumulation of the free gas expansion energy and outburst trigger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The effect of SiO 2 nanofluid with different concentrations on water adsorption capacity of coal is obtained. • The wettability-enhancing effect of SiO 2 nanofluid with different concentrations is investigated by contact angle tests. • The effect of nanofluid concentration on the wettability enhancement of coal is revealed. Water-based SiO 2 nanofluid, a wetting agent, has been proved to be feasible in improving the control effect of coal seam water injection against coal and gas outburst. However, the effect of nanofluid concentration on the control effect is not clear. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the wettability-enhancing effect of nanofluid with different concentrations. In this paper, firstly, the effect of SiO 2 nanofluid with different concentrations on water adsorption capacity of coal was obtained. Then, the wettability-enhancing effect of SiO 2 nanofluid with different concentrations was investigated by contact angle tests. Finally, the effect of nanofluid concentration on the wettability enhancement of coal was revealed. The results showed that increasing the nanofluid concentration can enhance the water adsorption capacity and wettability of coal. In addition, the wettability-enhancing effect of nanofluid gradually got worse with time, while the stability of wettability-enhancing effect gradually got better. Furthermore, the 0.5 wt% nanofluid had the best sustainability and stability of the wettability-enhancing effect, while 1.0 wt% had the worst sustainability and stability. The research achievements could provide important basis for the selection of nanofluid concentrations in coal seam water injection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coal seam water injection is proved an effective method for preventing coal and gas outburst. However, the poor wettability of coal seam has resulted in poor effect of coal seam water injection in preventing coal and gas outburst. In addition, the coal seam is in a state of injected-uninjected cycle due to multiple water injection. Therefore, it is important to study the wettability of coal seam with adding wetting agent under multiple water injection. In this paper, the effect of cyclic water injection on the wettability of coal with different SiO 2 nanofluid treatment times was investigated through contact angle tests. The results showed that increasing the treatment time of SiO 2 nanofluid would enhance the wettability of coal. In addition, the wettability of nanofluid-treated coal samples gradually got worse with the number of cycles increasing. In general, the effect of SiO 2 nanofluid on enhancing the wettability was approximately 2 to 4.5 times better than that of water. However, the difference of wetting enhancement between water and SiO 2 nanofluid became less obvious as the number of cycles increased. Even though, the nanofluid-treated coal samples showed the better wettability than water-treated coal samples after 13th cycle. Furthermore, the potential application of SiO 2 nanofluid in coal seam water injection was proposed, which had important significance for improving the effectiveness of coal seam water injection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coal seam water injection is one of the important technical means to prevent mine disasters. It can effectively change the mechanical properties of coal, prevent dust, coal and gas outburst, and reduce gas concentration. In order to expand the range of coal seam water injection, make coal seam water injection more effective in wetting coal mass, and determine the effective type of ionic surfactant required for coal seam water injection, triaxial seepage experiments and spontaneous imbibition experiments are conducted on the long flame coal samples from Houwenjialiang Coal Mine in Ordos City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China in this paper. Moreover, the effects and mechanisms of different ionic surfactants on the seepage and wetting stages of coal seam water injection are studied, which provides a theoretical basis for on-site coal seam water injection. After analysis and discussion, it is found that the influence of cationic surfactants on the seepage stage of coal seam water injection first decreases and then increases while the influence of anionic surfactants on the seepage stage of coal seam water injection shows a gradually increasing trend. Furthermore, both cationic and anionic surfactants show more significant wetting effects as the concentration of the surfactants increases. In addition, the adsorption of cations to coal molecules is stronger than that of anions, and the water solubility of cations is better than that of anions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Release pressure and diameter determined the distribution range of smash district. • Filling level of LCO 2 directly control the distribution range of crack district. • LCO 2 filling parameters can be used to guide LCO 2 -PB field applications. Liquid carbon dioxide phase-transition blasting (LCO 2 -PB) is a promising alternative method for enhanced coalbed methane (ECBM) extraction and prevention of coal and gas outbursts. During the process of the LCO 2 -PB fracturing the coal seam, the improper application of fracturing model will reduce the efficiency of gas drainage and cause gas disasters. To clearly understand the ECBM modes of LCO 2 -PB fracturing coal seam process, this paper employed experiments to investigate the effect of leakage characteristics of the LCO 2 -PB on fracture models of coal cubes, including release pressure (P r), filling level (V), release diameter (D r) and blasting hole diameter (D b). We propose the combination I and II of the LCO 2 -PB leakage parameters and applied two methods to the in-situ tests. The results revealed that the gas flow of the boreholes of the LCO 2 -PB with the combination I is 0.368 m3/min, which is 2.07 times that of the combination II (0.178) in the soft coal seam. Besides, the average methane flow of the boreholes with combination II is 0.796 m3/min, which is 1.78 times the combination I (0.448) in the hard coal seam. The adjustment of leakage parameters of the LCO 2 -PB technology can be helpful for ECBM and reduce the risk of coal and gas outbursts in the soft and hard coal bed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A new gas pressure inversion model is established. • The application result of the new model proves the uneven distribution of gas pressure. • The gas pressure value shows an approximate normal distribution law in statistics. • The evolution law of outburst elimination in the coal seam presents the characteristics of non-uniformity. China is one of the countries most seriously affected by coal and gas outburst disasters. Gas pressure is an important parameter to evaluate the risk of coal and gas outburst. In order to solve the problem existing in the traditional gas pressure measurement method, a dynamic inversion model of gas pressure while drilling is established based on the gas emission rule of coal particle and the gas radial migration equation of borehole wall in this paper. Combined with the directional drilling system and the special gas emission measuring device, the dynamic inversion model is applied to measure the gas pressure in the coal seam. The results show that: (1) The theoretical value of gas pressure obtained from the new model has a small error range by comparing with the actual value of gas pressure, which indicates that the new model has good reliability and applicability; (2) The distribution range of gas pressure value is wide, which shows the non-uniformity of gas occurrence in coal seam. The heterogeneity of gas pressure value shows an approximate normal distribution law in statistics; (3) Influenced by the occurrence of original gas in coal seam, the evolution law of outburst elimination in each area of coal seam also presents the characteristics of non-uniformity. The research results have important practical significance to assist the early warning of coal and gas outburst and to achieve coal and gas co-mining with safety mining. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A new mathematical time-dependent diffusivity model and its simplified model of deformed coal were established and validated. • The change law of gas diffusion coefficient of deformed coal with time was obtained. • The engineering application of SNMTDM was analyzed. Deformed coal provides favorable conditions for the occurrence of gas outburst disasters. The existing gas diffusion model cannot accurately calculate the lost gas amount during the sampling period of deformed coal. In order to solve the above problems, a new mathematical time-dependent diffusivity model (NMTDM) and its simplified model (SNMTDM) of deformed coal have been established and validated. At the same time, the performance and engineering application of models were also discussed. The results show that the fitting accuracy of NMTDM and SNMTDM to gas diffusion data is greater than that of unipore diffusion model (UDM) and simplified unipore diffusion model (SUDM), respectively, which indicates that it is reasonable to regard the diffusion coefficient of deformed coal as a time-dependent variable. The diffusion coefficient of adsorbed gas, diffusion coefficient of free gas and total diffusion coefficient of gas decrease with the increase of time, and SNMTDM can realize the accurate calculation of lost gas amount. However, when the application of SNMTDM extends beyond its applicable range, the calculating results of the model may deviate seriously from the actual values. The gas diffusion models established in this paper can improve the calculation accuracy of lost gas amount and gas content of deformed coal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• CH 4 drainage efficiency of LCO 2 -ECBM by in-situ experiment was elucidated. • In-situ experimental parameters and displacement radius were identified. • Mechanisms of LCO 2 -ECBM recovery were analysed. • Variation in microstructure of coals after liquid CO 2 saturation was revealed. • CO 2 –CH 4 displacement effect at different pressures and flows were obtained. More than 60% of China's coal seams have the feature of low permeability, which severely restricts the gas drainage efficiency when using traditional drilling method. The development of enhanced coalbed methane (ECBM) technologies is essential to prevent coal and gas outburst (CGO) disasters caused by high levels of coal bed methane (CBM). This paper proposes an ECBM technology by liquid carbon dioxide (LCO 2 -ECBM), based on permeability improvement by thermal damage and CO 2 -CH 4 displacement effect. In-situ experiment conducted in the No. 6 coal seam of Zhangji mine shows the effectiveness of LCO 2 -ECBM technology, which had drainage efficiency 1.9 times higher than that of the traditional drilling method. The mechanisms of LCO 2 -ECBM recovery were theoretically deduced and experimentally verified. The evolution of adsorbed pores (ADP) and seepage pores (SEP) in coal samples before and after LCO 2 saturation were revealed. The ADP specific area, SEP volume, and permeability in the saturated coal samples were both greater than those of the raw ones. Moreover, the periodic features of binary-gas competitive adsorption in ADP and SEP were revealed by the variation of the CH 4 concentration in the displacement test. The feasibility of LCO 2 -ECBM technology was proved by in-situ experiment and laboratory tests, and it provided a new means for preventing CGO hazards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Mathematical model for the effective fracture radius was established. • The fracture zone around the blasting hole is distributed approximately in an ellipsoid. • Field test indicated that the gas drainage effect significantly improves. A proper understanding of liquid CO 2 phase transition fracturing is essential, because the technique can not only reduce CO 2 emission, but also can increase production of coalbed methane (CBM). In order to improve the speed of gas drainage and increase the gas permeability of a low permeability coal seam in the driving face of an outburst-prone coal seam, this paper introduced the technology of pressure relief and antireflection by liquid CO 2 phase transition in the driving face of an outburst-prone coal seam. At first, the research theoretically analyzed the fracturing processing through the liquid CO 2 phase transition and established a mathematical model for the fracturing pressure of the coal seam and the influence range of fracturing. Then, the CO 2 phase transition fracturing was numerically simulated. Numerical simulation results showed that the influence radius of fracturing was 2.55–2.70 m. Finally, the field test on liquid CO 2 phase transition fracturing was conducted in the driving face based on the modeling results. The results of field experiments show that the amount of head-on gas emission increased by about 2 times after blasting, and the quantity of gas extraction from a single borehole controlled by fracturing was increased by about 4 times. After 8 h of blasting, the amount of gas emission and drainage decreased to the level before blasting. The outburst suppression effect is obvious after a comparison of the gas desorption index of drilling cuttings within 20 m before and after blasting in the heading face. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The determination of gas pressure is a prerequisite for preventing coal and gas outburst. The traditional measurement method has some shortcomings, such as few test points, long test time and complicated process. In this paper, after analyzing the gas emission law of coal particle and the radial gas flow rule of borehole wall, a real-time and fast method for calculating gas pressure with drilling is proposed to establish gas pressure dynamic inversion model based on gas emission quantity of borehole, which is applied to inversion calculation of gas pressure in the directional drilling process. The results show that: (1) Inversion of gas pressure shows that the physical properties of coal seam and the characteristics of gas adsorption affect the amount of gas emission, resulting in different calculation results of gas pressure, which proves the uneven distribution of gas pressure the in coal seam; (2) According to the comparison results, the error range between the theoretical value and the measured value of gas pressure is from 3.6% to 18.1%, which indicates the correctness and reliability of the new model. The error is mainly influenced by the gas emission quantity of coal particle and the permeability coefficient of coal seam after gas desorption; (3) Field application results show that there are many abnormal regions of gas pressure in the coal seam because of geological structure existence. The research results have important practical significance for the analysis of distribution law of coal seam gas and the identification of gas outburst risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]