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Groundwater reservoir technology is a vital way to achieve both efficient mining and water conservation in western coalfields in China. The stability of coal pillar dam is an emphasis of reservoir design, which plays an important role in the stability of groundwater reservoirs. Coal pillar dam should ensure the safety of coal mining, as well as the safe operation of groundwater reservoirs. The stability of coal pillar dam is closely related to water weakening and engineering geological conditions, such as buried depth, mining stress, geological structure and so on. In order to study the strength weakening law of coal pillar dam of groundwater reservoirs under water, this paper took Madiliang mine No.5 in western mining area as the research object, carried out a non-destructive water immersion test on coal sample and a uniaxial compression test on coal sample under various water content and repeated soaking. The results show that the water content of coal samples with various water content increased rapidly within 0-20 h; after 20 h, the grew rate slowed down; and in 20-70 h, the water content grew slowly; in 70-140 h, the growth of water content of coal sample was nearly stable. In conclusion, the water content of coal sample increases with the soaking time, but the increase rate gradually decreases, and finally tends to be flat. With the increase of water content( the number of times of soaking), the uniaxial compressive strength of coal sample decreases gradually, but the peak strain increases gradually, and the elastic modulus decreases gradually. Compared with the dry coal sample, the uniaxial compressive strength of the first water-saturation coal sample and the coal sample with the third soaking decreased by 27.1% and 50.0% respectively, and the elastic modulus decreased by 34.6% and 58.5% respectively. Combined with the above results and the elasticplastic mechanics theory, this paper discussed the damage zone and plastic zone width of coal pillar dam under various water content, carried out the research of coal pillar dam width considering overburden rock pressure, water pressure and water weakening, and designed the width of the groundwater reservoir combining with the engineering geological conditions of Madiliang mine. At the same time, the paper further analyzed the influencing factors of the width of coal pillar dam, concluding that the width of coal pillar dam is closely affected by water content, buried depth, and mining thickness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Yushenfu mining area, the concept of water-preserved coal mining is based on the groundwater level decline and vegetation degradation caused by coal mining in the early stage. After theoretical research and engineering practice in many years, a key technical system for water-preserved coal mining has been initially established, which effectively guides the exploitation of coal resources and ecological environment protection in the ecological fragile mining areas. Under the high standards for the construction of national ecological civilization, the ecological environment protection of coal-water resources symbiosis areas in the arid and semi-arid regions of western China is facing a historical test. This paper reviewed the achievements of water-preserved coal mining technology, and concluded that the research on geological conditions, rock movement and water-preserved coal mining methods had basically solved the outstanding problems in single coal seam mining, while the investigation on water and ecological constraints on coal mining, and ecological restoration and reconstruction lagged slightly behind. By combing the relevant contributions, this paper explores the scientific issues in the study of five water-preserved coal mining and related fields. This includes the ecological constraints identification, the quantification and monitoring of the groundwater dependent on the mining area, the detection and prediction of the water conducting fissure zone under the conditions of large mining height and repeated mining, the quantification and evaluation of the thickness of the effective aquiclude, the overburden control and ecological reconstruction and restoration. Under the new situation, the responsibility and tasks of ecological protection in mining areas are significant. More research is needed to support the water-preserved coal mining in western China and promote the construction of green mining areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The protection and utilization of groundwater resources in coal mining process is the prerequisite and necessary condition for realizing green mining at the ecological fragile mining area in western China. Among them, the extensive application of water-preserved mining and underground reservoir technology provides the possibility for solving the problem of coal-water co-production. In this paper, with the background that the stability of the coal and rock boundary of underground reservoir changed under the conditions of repeated immersion in water, the sandy mudstone of the No.3-1 coal seam roof of Wulanmulun Mine was investigated. The natural water absorption law of the sample was obtained by non-destructive water immersion test, and the water immersion time of the sample water content reaching saturation state was obtained. According to the immersion time, the sample was dried-saturated and repeatedly immersed in water. It was found that the water content increased exponentially with the number of immersion, whereas the shear strength and the number of water immersion in the sample decreased exponentially. The cohesive force decreased with the increase of the number of immersion times, while the internal friction angle increased first and then decreased, indicating that the uniformity of the material, and the shape of the fracture surface and the shape, size and direction of the fracture caused the internal friction angle to increase. The cycle immersion later was the dominant factor to make the internal friction angle decrease. Based on the relationship between cohesion, internal friction angle and number of dry-saturated cycles, the Mohr-Coulomb criterion was established based on the number of dry-saturated cycles. The acoustic emission counting curve had a strong correspondence with the shear stress curve. The acoustic emission event increased significantly at the moment of sample failure, corresponding to the obvious rising phase of the cumulative acoustic emission counting curve. The sample mainly had a low RA value during the failure process, and the failure time corresponded to a high RA value, i.e. , the common type of crack in the failure process of the specimen was tensile crack, and the moment of failure corresponded to the obvious shear crack. These results show that the strength of coal and rock pillars in the groundwater reservoir boundary changed significantly under the action of water immersion-water loss during the impoundment-pumping process in the groundwater reservoir. It is suggested that the weakening effect of water on the strength of boundary coal and rock pillars should be considered when constructing the underground reservoir. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water resources destruction and geological environment changes caused by mining in ecologically fragile areas of western China have seriously restricted the sustainable development of economy, society and environment in mining areas. Through reviewing the research progress of water-preserved coal mining and carrying capacity of geological environment in coal mining areas, and combining with the current situation of geological environment in western China rich in coal and short of water, the research framework of carrying capacity of geological environment based on the concept of water-preserved coal mining is proposed. It is considered that the function mechanism of "coal mining activity-water resource destruction-geological environment effect"should be systematically analyzed by combining the concept of water-preserved coal mining with the theory of carrying capacity of geological environment. The methods of attribute analysis, ecological demand analysis, numerical analysis and catastrophe theory should be used in studying the carrying capacity of geological environment. In particular, the quantitative method, comprehensive evaluation method and the classification method of carrying status and carrying capacity of geological environment should be investigated. By means of simulation experiment, the relationship data between the geological environment and the critical value of mining intensity under the carrying capacity of typical coal mine area are obtained. Then the technological method of coal mining under water-containing for controlling and alleviating the geological environment problems in coal mine area is extracted to determine the reasonable mining intensity and scale. On the basis of the research of carrying capacity, this paper put forward the collaborative monitoring method for the influencing factors of carrying capacity of geological environment, and the criterion of bearing capacity early warning grade of carrying capacity. The connotation and basic research ideas of geological environmental carrying capacity based on the concept of water-preserved coal mining will enrich the scientific connotation of water-preserved coal mining and geological environmental carrying capacity, and provide a theoretical and technical support for the coordinated development of coal resources and water resources protection in the fragile ecological environment areas of western China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yushenfu coal field is located in the Maowusu Desert and the Loess Plateau convergence zone in China, where ecological environment is fragile and ecological water resources are scarce. The heterogeneous distribution of main aquifers and mine water inflow influence the safe production of coal mines. Thus, the protection and uti-lization of water resources are of significance to coal mine production and ecological construction. After analyzing the distribution and water abundance of the main aquifers, such as Salawusu Formation, burnt rock and weathering bedrock, combining the thickness of overlying bedrock and water inflow on field, the operating coal mines and unplanned areas could be divided into four types which are the areas of water scarcity, water richness, water abundance and surface water source. The study area has been divided into sub-regions according to the classification and their distribution. Based on the classification, the concrete measures for water preservation and mine water utilization have been proposed such as storage and purification in goaf area, industrial utilization, agricultural irrigation, wetlands construction and artificial lakes. In the paper, the scientific content of water-preserved mining has been extended and interpreted as that both preserving shallow main aquifers and effectively utilizing coal mine water resource should be taken simultaneously. It proposes that mining damage and ecological self-repair should be considered before coal mine construction. It also proposes that the idea of using economic benefits to repay the local ecosystem and green economy which provides certain references for mining area planning and construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The exploitation of underground coal resources can easily lead to the loss of precious shallow water resources, which leads to the death of surface vegetation and the imbalance of ecosystem. To protect the shallow water resources( river, lake and diving of quaternary sand aquifer), which maintains the ecological environment of the western mining area, especially to protect the underground diving( ecological) water level, the concept of water conservation mining in short-distance coal seams was put forward based on the previous theoretical achievements of water conservation mining in shallow single coal seam and the experience of rock control engineering. The concept integrated the protection of ecological water level, and the prevention and control of water inrush. In order to achieve an efficient water conservation mining under the mining conditions of short-distance coal seams and extremely short-distance shallow water resources, this paper studied the technical problems, such as the collaborative control of strata water-conducting fractures in the disturbed area of repeated mining, the low-damage control of ultra-thin barrier layers and the monitoring and warning of water inrush( outburst) on mining surface. The study presented the long wall water conservation mining method, the water conservation mining under continuous mining and filling with wall system and the infrared monitoring and warning methods for water inrush in working face to realize the safe and efficient mining. More specifically, the methods included the strata control of short-distance coal seams, the calculation of the height of water-conduct fractures, the deformation calculation of aquicludes, the infrared radiation theories of loaded coal and rock, the control of water diversion fractures in the disturbed area of repeated mining, the filling body actively connected to the roof and the rapid operation technology among mining, supporting and transportation. Meanwhile, the weak areas of water conservation mining were determined. Based on water resource protection, the optimized working face layout of shallow buried and short-distance coal seams, mining method allocation and water resource movement monitoring, an efficient mining theory was formed. The achievements have been achieved in the practice of water conservation mining in north Shaanxi and north China, which provides supports for green mining in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coal mining with water protection is an inevitable choice for the sustainable development of ecologically fragile mining areas. The study and application of coal mining with water protection is an urgent problem to be solved in coal development planning, construction and production in northwest China. Taking Yushen mining area in northern Shaanxi Province as an example, this paper studies the types of water-preserved coal mining coalmines in combination with the quantity distribution of shallow water resources( water-preserved coal mining target seam) and the impact of coal mining on shallow water resources. Firstly, the spatial occurrence structure characteristics of eco-water-coal measures strata in the study area are analyzed. Also, the eco-geological environment types for the purpose of water-preserved coal mining are proposed, which are divided into oasis type with phreatic water and bottomland in desert, oasis type with surface water and valley river, loess gully type with surface runoff, and regional deep groundwater enrichment type. Secondly, the distribution of total storage per unit area of shallow water resources is calculated and determined. Then, based on the influence degree of coal mining on ecological layer and shallow water, four types of environmental engineering geological patterns( basically unaffected model, gradually restored model after destruction, gradually deteriorated model and disaster model) are proposed. Based on the analysis of the key indicators affecting the division of environmental engineering geological patterns, including the height of the water-flowing fractured zone and the mining water-resisting of residual aquiclude, etc., the zoning threshold and determination method for environmental engineering geological patterns is established. Finally, based on the distribution characteristics of shallow water resources and environmental engineering geological patterns, the grade types of water-preserved coal mining coalmines are put forward for the first time, which is divided into normal mining mine, water-preserved coal mining first-class mine, water-preserved coal mining second-class mine and water-preserved coal mining third-class mine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]