Application of the retained gob-side gateroad in a deep underground coalmine

Abstract

Zhuji coalmine, a typical deep underground coalmine located in Huainan city, Anhui province of China, is characterised by rich gas, high in situ stress and low permeability. These geotechnical conditions cause serious problems including outburst, excessive gas emissions in the upper corner of the coal face, and low resource recovery resulting from large remaining coal pillars when using conventional mining methods. Retained gob-side gateroad (RGSG) is proposed to resolve these problems by eliminating the large coal pillars and extracting gas simultaneously. To achieve a scientific and reasonable application of the RGSG in the Zhuji coalmine, stress evolution in the surrounding rock of this roadway was studied using FLAC3D numerical simulation method. Then, a staged supporting strategy and corresponding parameters were proposed in terms of the characteristics of stress evolution. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method was discussed based on the field measurements and roadway maintenance was carried out for reuse during the adjacent panel excavation.

Keywords:

• Deep underground coalmine
• retained gob-side gateroad
• stress evolution
• staged roadway supporting
• roadway maintenance

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the engineers in the Zhuji coalmine for their corporations and field measurements. The professor N. Zhang in the China University of Mining and Technology (Xuzhou) and other anonymous reviewers are also gratefully acknowledged for their valuable comments and suggestions.