METHANE HAZARD DURING THE CLOSURE OF MINE EXCAVATIONS IN LIQUIDATED MINE - NUMERICAL SIMULATION.

The closure of deep mines, featuring multi level seam extraction, lasts many years. During this time period, the ventilation system must ensure adequate working conditions, and ensure the safety and stability of fan operation in gas and fire hazards conditions. The analysis of air flows and methane inflows during the progress of mining mine excavations closure, is the primary object of the article. Execution of such analysis requires knowledge of the mining mine excavations' closure schedule, the structure of the ventilation system under consideration, the values of the parameters describing the air flows delivered to the mine excavations, and the current characteristics of operating fans and predicted methane exhalation. A computer database, currently being updated by a mine ventilation department for the VentGraph-Plus computer software, has been used simulate the various ventilation scenarios experienced, during the final stage of closure, including the shutdown of the main fans and the backfilling of shafts. The results of case study, containing 2 variants of simulated examples, are presented in the form of diagrams of methane concentration changes in time at characteristic places of the mine. The completed simulations of ventilation processes during the closure of mine excavations and transfer of inflowing methane, indicate useful possibilities of the computational tool used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]