Design of gas drainage modes based on gas emission rate in a gob: a simulation study

In the process of working face advance in longwall coal mining, a great deal of gas relieved by the strata adjacent to the mining coal seam and the residual coal in gob migrates to gob. If the gas drainage method in gob is unreasonable, gas will accumulate in the upper corner and overrun in the return air flow. In the paper, a CFD (computational fluid mechanics) model of gob based on the actual geological conditions and gas drainage mode of 1262 working face of Dingji Coal Mine, China, was established. The gas drainage modes that should be taken to effectively control gas accumulation in the upper corner and gas overrun in the return air flow at different gas emission rates were discussed. The simulation results show that when the gas emission rate in the working face is lower than 20 m³/min, buried pipe drainage can effectively control gas accumulation in the upper corner and gas overrun in the return air flow. When gas emission rate there is between 20 and 30 m³/min, the two problems can be solved through cross-measure borehole drainage combined with buried pipe drainage. When gas emission rate there is higher than 40 m³/min, they can be effectively controlled through a three-dimensional drainage mode including buried pipes, cross-measure boreholes, and surface wells. Arranging surface wells within the fractured zone near the return airway can increase the gas drainage rate, and the gas concentration can reach over 85%; the gas concentrations of buried pipe drainage and cross-measure borehole drainage are 15~20% and 70~80%, respectively.