Abstract
The height of the water-conducting fractured zone is of significant importance for both the prevention of water inrush induced disasters and the design of longwall mines. To ensure the mining safety of shallow coal seams under water-rich aquifers, an approach for forecasting the height of the water-conducting fractured zone is proposed by analyzing the damage zone distribution in FLAC3D model. First, 30 numerical models with different face lengths and mining thicknesses of no. 1101 coal face at Luxin Mine, China, a typical shallow coal face, were built using FLAC3D. Then, the heights of water-conducting fractured zones and the thicknesses of protective layers with different face lengths and mining thicknesses were obtained from numerical simulations and empirical formulae. Results show that the height of the water-conducting fractured zone increases with both the face length and mining thickness. And there is a critical value of face length, which is about 300 m in no. 11 coal seam at Luxin Mine. To mine no. 11 coal seam, a slicing mining method is suggested and the face length and mining thickness of the first slice are recommended as 200 and 3.0 m, respectively.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adhikary DP, Guo H (2014) Measurement of longwall mining induced strata permeability. Geotech Geol Eng 32(3):617–626
Booth CJ, Bertsch L (1999) Groundwater geochemistry in shallow aquifers above longwall mines in Illinois, USA. Hydrogeol J 7:561–575
Cherubini C (2008) A modeling approach for the study of contamination in a fractured aquifer. Geotech Geol Eng 26(5):519–533
Du JP, Wang LQ (2013) Special mining method. China University of Mining and Technology Press, Xuzhou (in Chinese)
Guo WB, Zou YF, Hou QL (2012) Fractured zone height of longwall mining and its effects on the overburden aquifers. Int J Min Sci Technol 22:603–606
Huang QX (2002) Ground pressure behavior and definition of shallow seams. Chin J Rock Mech Eng 21(8):1174–1177 (in Chinese)
Itasca Consulting Group, Inc (1997) FLAC 3D (version 2.0) User’s manual. Minneapolis
Khanal M, Adhikary D, Balusu R (2012) Numerical analysis and geotechnical assessment of mine scale model. Int J Min Sci Technol 22(5):693–698
Liu YD, Zhang DS, Fan GW et al (2011) Applicable conditions for a classification system of aquifer-protective mining in shallow coal seams. Min Sci Technol (China) 21:381–387
Liu XS, Ning JG, Tan YL (2014) Study on roof breaking model of near shallow seam. Chin J Rock Mech Eng 31(2):214–219 (in Chinese)
Lokhande RD, Murthy VMSR, Singh KB (2012) Pot-hole subsidence in underground coal mining: some Indian experiences. Geotech Geol Eng 31(2):793–799
Miao XX, Cui XM, Wang JA et al (2011) The height of fractured water-conducting zone in undermined rock strata. Eng Geol 120:32–39
National Bureau of Coal Industry of China (2000) Pillar design and mining regulations under buildings, water, rails and major roadways. China Coal Industry Publishing House, Beijing (in Chinese)
Tan YL, Ning JG, Gu ST et al (2011) Ground pressure and strata control (Revised version). China Coal Industry Publishing House, Beijing (in Chinese)
Tan YL, Ning JG, li HT (2012) In situ explorations on zonal disintegration of roof strata in deep coalmines. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 49:113–124
Tan YL, Yu FH, Chen L (2013) A new approach for predicting bedding separation of roof strata in underground coalmines. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 61:183–188
Wu Q, Huang XL, Dong DL et al (2000) “Three maps-two predictions” method to evaluate water bursting conditions on roof coal. J China Coal Soc 25(1):60–65
Xu ZM, Sun YJ, Dong QH et al (2010) Predicting the height of water-flow fractured zone during coal mining under the Xiaolangdi Reservoir. Min Sci Technol 20:434–438
Xu JL, Zhu WB, Wang XZ (2012) New method to predict the height of fractured water-conducting zone by location of key strata. J China Coal Soc 37(5):762–769
Zhang SJ (2011) Reasonable workface Mining thickness under shallow cover and thin strata geological condition in Sanbula Coal Mine. Proc Eng 26:411–417
Zhang DS, Fan GW, Ma LQ et al (2011) Aquifer protection during longwall mining of shallow coal seams: a case study in the Shendong Coalfield of China. Int J Coal Geol 86:190–196
Zhang JG, Miao XX, Huang YL et al (2014) Fracture mechanics model of fully mechanized top coal caving of shallow coal seams and its application. Int J Min Sci Technol 24:349–352
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51274133, 51174129), Shandong Province Natural Science Fund (No. ZR2010EEZ002), Doctoral Scientific Fund Project of the Ministry of Education of China (No. 20123718110013) and Open Fund of State Key Laboratory of Mining Disaster Prevention and Control Co-founded by Shandong Province and the Ministry of Science and Technology (No. MDPC2013KF12).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Liu, X., Tan, Y., Ning, J. et al. The Height of Water-Conducting Fractured Zones in Longwall Mining of Shallow Coal Seams. Geotech Geol Eng 33, 693–700 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-015-9851-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-015-9851-2