Innovative pillar recovery method integrating gob-side entry driving and directional roof-cutting for thick-hard roof coal seams

Abstract

To enhance the recuperation rate of the mine and comply with the stipulations of green mining technology, it is vital to expeditiously recuperate the coal pillar resources in the final stage, thus preventing the considerable squandering of resources. The coal pillar resource of the main roadway and its branch roadway constitutes a significant recovery subject. Its coal pillar shape is regular and possesses a considerable strike distance, facilitating the arrangement of the coal pillar recovery working face (CPRWF) for mining operations. However, for the remaining coal pillars with a thick and hard roof (THF) and multiple tectonic zones, CPRWF encounters challenges in selecting an appropriate layout, managing excessive roof pressure, and predicting mining stress. Aiming at the roadway coal pillar group with THF and multi-structural areas in specific projects, a method of constructing multi-stage CPRWF by one side gob-side entry driving (GSED) and one side roadway reusing is proposed. Through theoretical calculation of roof fracture and numerical simulation verification, combined with field engineering experience and economic analysis, the width of the narrow coal pillar (NCP) in the GSED is determined to be 10 m and the length of the CPRWF is 65 m. Concurrently, the potential safety hazard that the roof will fall asymmetrically and THF is difficult to break during CPRWF mining after GSED is analyzed and verified. Then, a control method involving the pre-cutting of the roof in the reused roadway before mining is proposed. This method has been shown to facilitate the complete collapse of THF, reduce the degree of mine pressure, and facilitate the symmetrical breaking of the roof. Accordingly, a roof-cutting scheme based on a directional drilling rig, bidirectional shaped PVC pipe, and emulsion explosive was devised, and the pre-splitting of 8.2 m THF was accomplished. Field observations indicate that directional cracks are evident in the roof, the coal wall is flat during CPRWF mining, and the overall level of mining pressure is within the control range. Therefore, the combined application of GSED and roof-cutting technology for coal pillar recovery has been successfully implemented, thereby providing new insights and engineering references for the construction and pressure relief mining of CPRWF.

Keywords

coal pillar recovery / thick and hard roof / gob-side entry driving / directional roof-cutting / numerical analysis / energy-gathering blasting

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