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By André C. Zingano

The coal pillars in room-and-pillar mining method are subjected to vertical stress due to overburden rock mass and horizontal stress relieve due to entries excavation around them. Some coal mining companies are applying rock bolts and steel straps to improve the pillar strength, consequently to reducing the pillar size and increasing coal recovery. This kind of approach deserves some discussion, whether it is pillar reinforcement or just rib support. The efficiency of pillar reinforcement (or rib support) is directly related to the initial load capacity of coal pillar, the type of excavation, and the width to high ratio of the pillar. The objective of this paper is to understand the mechanism of pillar reinforcement (or rib support) using rock bolts and steel straps on pillar ribs. Numerical simulation taking into account the relations listed above. The results showed that the increase of coal pillar strength is very short, and there is no influence on improvement of load capacity of pillar. However, the rib support avoids block falling, rib failure, and displacement, reducing the pillar failure propagation into the pillar center. Keywords: coal, pillar reinforcement, room and pillar.

Jan 1, 2006

By Wenquan Zhang

Based on the mining and geological conditions of Wadong Mine, Longkou City, Shandong Province, China, a viscoelastic model with proper creep parameters was established. The 3-D ANSYS was used to simulate surface subsidence, analyze overburden subsidence characteristics, and propose the rational mining and pillar widths for mining in weak rocks and under special mining conditions, and provide the policy makers scientific data for decision making on mining activities.

Jan 1, 2006

By Frederick Carr

1. The application of retreat longwall mining to the North American coal mining conditions is be¬coming more advantageous as more experience is gained. The productivity results being achieved and potential possible illustrates that this system can be the keystone of future underground coal production. 2. In the American coal fields multi-entry is normally practiced as this allows profitable longwall development with existing equipment and systems. Difficulties are being experienced however in the longwall retreat phase by the col¬lapse of multi-entry roadways and excessive use of supplemental support in the following panel tailgates. In some instances the headgate of an operating face can also be in difficulty. 3. Jim Walter Resources Mining Division is developed on a mining plan that calls for three retreat longwalls at each of its four deep mines which have varying depths of cover and immediate roof and floor conditions. The #3 Mine has experienced longwall entry difficulty and there were differing viewpoints with respect to the best development systems to adopt particularly regarding the number of entries and pillar sizes. In an attempt to reconcile these different points of view J.W.R. asked Dr. Wilson to examine the problem and this paper outlines the new approach developed.

Jan 1, 1982

By Shane McDonald

Australia produces approximately 84 million tonnes of coal per annum from 30 longwalls in New South Wales and Queensland, operating at an average depth of around 300m. Industry trends and expectations place increasing emphasis on the reliability of these operations; for example, the current average face width is 245m and this is expected to increase to approximately 270m by 2010. In recent years, Beltana No.1 Mine has consistently been Australia?s highest longwall producer, with ROM output of 7.2Mt in YEJ2007. Strata management has become a key feature of the operation of Australia?s longwall mines, as a tool to manage variances in the geotechnical environment. This involves an understanding of the impacts of the geotechnical environment on ground behaviour and the implications for mine design, stability and associated support, interaction and horizon selection. The anticipated ground control impacts of these factors form the assumptions that drive the format of plans specifying both triggers and actions, with quantified, monitoring-focussed experience used to refine the plan in a continuous improvement (ie ?plan-do-check-act?) process. This paper summarises the Beltana No.1 Mine strata management methodology and experience to-date.

Jan 1, 2008

By Xingtian Hui

Due to variation in the geological natures of underground coal mines, especially when the entry?s roof/floor are soft and weak, it is vital to select an appropriate roof bolting system to ensure entry stability, coal production, and miner?s safety. No single type of roof bolting system perfectly fits for various types of openings, even within a mine. From the results of continuous research on roof bolting in the past 10 years, the authors used a novel concept of ?Self-screwed? mechanism to develop five types of roof bolting under a patented Self-screwed Tube Bolting System (STBS)©. This roof tube bolting system can be applied to meet different timing-strength requirements under varying mining conditions to increases the stability of mine workings. This paper outlines the structures and mechanisms of the five types of self-screwed roof bolting systems along with their unique characteristics, advantages and disadvantages, and limitations. Two case studies using a Self-screwed Tube Drilling Bolting (STDB)©, one of the five types of roof tube bolting systems, show the principles of mechanics, suitability and parameters for a mine entry and a subway?s construction/ supports in the surrounding soil layers and soft sands, respectively are presented. The results confirmed the time dependent anchorage capacity between predictions and on-site measurements. Currently, other types of the self-screwed tube bolting systems are also being applied to different coal mines in China to increase entry stability and meet safety requirements.

Jan 1, 2009

By John Latilla

Exxaro Mining?s Matla Coal situated in Mpumalanga, South Africa operates two shortwall faces on the No 4 and No 2 seam while the No 5 seam has also been longwalled in the past. Severe strata loading events have lead to a number of serious roof falls on the wall face (facebreaks) resulting in safety threats as well as considerable production losses. In 2002 the No 4 seam shortwall suffered a facebreak restricted mainly to the tailgate side of the mining panel due to a thick, near surface dolerite sill not breaking properly. This was partly due to the premature suspension of longwalling in the overlying No 5 seam. The resultant overloading lead to severe pillar damage and subsequent bord collapse. Surface pre-split blasting was successfully used to relieve the pressure as well as to pre-condition the dolerite above the following two panels. The shortwall on the No 2 seam has experienced mid-face loading due to No 4 seam chain pillars lying over this area and creating a secondary cantilever effect. Pre-split blasting of the solid rock above the No 4 seam pillars has resulted in a significant reduction in the number of facebreaks. The panel layout of the No 2 seam was subsequently changed so that the chain pillars on both the No 4 and No 2 seam are superimposed whereas previously they were offset.

Jan 1, 2007

By Thomas Barczak

Roof support systems are designed for roof control to prevent unplanned falls. It sounds logical and has been the conventional thinking in support design since supports were first installed. In order to determine which support system should be used or which would be the most effective, the degree of control provided by the support system must be known. This question embodies the concept of a ground response curve, which is a measure of support control by assessment of the convergence in the mine entry as a function of the support capacity. In this National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) study to optimize standing roof support design, ground response curves were developed for longwall tailgate conditions from numerical models of Pittsburgh Coal Seam geology. The models were calibrated against tailgate convergence measurements that were made in two Pittsburgh Coal Seam mines as the depth of cover varied during the panel extraction. Ground response curves were developed for four loading conditions: (1) development, (2) side abutment, (3) front abutment near the longwall face, and (4) full extraction inby the face. In general, the tailgate convergence and required support capacity increase through each of these loading stages. It was concluded that prior to failure of the rock mass, the support system regardless of its capacity has relatively little impact on tailgate convergence. Recognizing that the support cannot prevent much of the (pre-failure) convergence that is occurring is an important part of support design. Supports that exhibit high loading stiffness but cannot sustain that loading through a displacement compatible with the ground response curve will not provide adequate roof control because they can fail prematurely. The required capacity depends on the loading plus yielding characteristics of the support and the amount of rock failure that has occurred. The loading plus yielding character establishes where the support loading intersects the ground response curve. Design criterion for support capacity based on the identifying the onset of strain-soften rock response leading to ?damaged roof? is proposed as a foundation for assessing support design requirements. The capacity without accounting for the loading and yielding character of one support should not be used to assess the capacity requirement of an alternative support design, particularly when the loading and yielding characteristics are significantly different. A sensitivity study was made to evaluate the impact of mining height and overburden depth. As expected, the results show that convergence increases with increase in mining height and increase in overburden depth. Some specific support examples are also analyzed. Although this is a first step and the two-dimensional numerical models have limitations, these initial studies provide valuable insight into the control provided by the roof support system and will ultimately lead to optimizing support design based on specific mine site conditions.

Jan 1, 2008

By Changsheng Song

With increasing depth of coal mining in China, the number of coal and gas outbursts has been increasing for years. By means of destressing the protective seam, the gas in the protected seam is drained to reduce gas concentration in the high gassy seams, thus ultimately attaining simultaneous extraction of coal and gas. Base on the simulated material scale modeling and numerical simulation, the protective seam mining method was practiced at No. 8 coal mine in Pingdingshan city. After extracting the No. 15 seam, the overlying strata movement and the deformation of No. 9-10 protected seam were studied. The experiments showed that it was feasible to destress the protected seams with large interburden thickness. As the protective seam was being mined, the protected seam experienced dynamic movement process and the change in vertical stress in the No. 9-10 seam assumed ?W? shape. When the face had advanced 656 ft (200m) from the setup room, the No. 9-10 seam was fully destressed, resulting in easy gas drainage in the destressed zone. Recommendations on mining sequence of multiple seams mining in the Pingdingshan coal areas were made.

Jan 1, 2008

By Mingju Liu

China has been suffering from coal and gas outbursts since 1950s. Nowadays, the situation has become worse than ever with the need to mine deeper coal deposits at higher production rates in a more complex underground mining environment. In the year 2006 alone, 37 outbursts occurred in underground coal mines with a death toll of 232. This paper describes a case study of an outburst event, which occurred in July 2006 during the shaft development of the Mengjin Coal Mine, Henan Province, China at a depth of 768m below surface. Detailed analysis of the possible causes that led to the occurrence of the outburst is reported. These include the study of complex geological features, gas storage conditions, possible improper technical management practice as well as incomplete prevention and control measures. Based on the case study and the observation of outburst occurrence in China in the year 2007, suggestions have been put forward to help prevent and control future coal and gas outbursts.

Jan 1, 2007

By Xinxian Zhai

Jining No. 3 Coal Mine, a subsidiary of Yanzhou Coal Company Limited. China, is a super-large modern mine. The coal mine is not only the first one constructed with five-million tons of designed production capacity in China, but also a modern underground coal mine with coal transportation systems by trains and ships, and with a power plant. Based on the hard roof conditions of the sublevel caving coal face in the fault-affected zone, the authors designed rebar and cable bolts for supporting the tailgate that is separated from the gob by a narrow pillar. With extensometers and borescope, strata behavior was systematically studied during tailgate development: (1). Roof convergence is much smaller as well as roof strata separation between inside and outside the anchored zone. (2). The affected zone during tailgate development is approximately 50 m. (3). Because of serious floor heave and obvious rib convergence, the tailgate finally turned into a reversed-trapezoid from the original rectangular shape. (4). There being many joints and fractures in the pillar, coal is crushed from the elastic bedded structure into loose blocky materials. But the tailgate met the service requirements during longwall retreat mining, and demonstrated that the method of roof support was a success. Since then, roof bolting has been widely used for the tailgate of longwall panels at Jining No. 3 Coal Mine. Keywords: coal mine; bolt supporting; tailgate; convergence of surrounding rock; ground control; strata behaviors.

Jan 1, 2007

By Peter B. Lilly

Thank you, Syd, for the kind introduction and for inviting me to give the Keynote Address at this very prestigious gathering of some of the finest intellect and talent in the domestic and international coal industry. CONSOL Energy has been a part of this conference for its entire 24-year existence. We have presented 27 papers over that time. CONSOL employees have also been members of the planning committee for the conference, and we have been pleased to support the event both financially and with many participants. So I am honored to be here with all of you this morning, especially during such a positive period for coal. You can just feel the enthusiasm in this room for our industry, and for this conference. I can tell you, there?s also a lot of enthusiasm and excitement in CONSOL Energy?s boardroom. And our enthusiasm is mirrored on Wall Street. But there remains an ironic twist to all of this attention. Even when times are good, the coal industry seems to go largely unnoticed by the mainstream. Outside of West Virginia and other coal-producing regions, the industry still seems to lack influence and support, at least here in America. As an example, last month, an ABC News crew visited our Blacksville 2 Mine, near here, to do a feature story on increased employment in the coal industry.

Jan 1, 2006

By Zbigniew Lubosik, Stanislaw Prusek

"The main elements of hard coal extraction systems in the Polish mining industry, including the characteristics of gateroads, are described, followed by several dozen underground measurements of gateroad roof sag performed in different geological and mining conditions in Upper Silesia Coal Basin.Based on the analysis of the roof sag measurements, an attempt to describe the gateroad roof sag process using a geometrical model was made. To build the model, it was assumed that the roof sag curve could be described by three straight lines. The first line describes the roof sag ahead of the longwall face; the second line, the sag at the longwall-gateroad junction zone; and the last line describes the zone behind the longwall face. Determining the intersection points and inclination angles is essential for the model. These model parameters depend on the geological and mining conditions in the gateroad.Using the statistical computations and analysis, the dependencies between the characteristic points of the gateroad roof sag model and the selected geological and mining parameters were defined. The STATISTICA computer program by StatSoft was used for computation.This paper presents a simple form of the geometrical description of roadway roof sag progression that is very useful during the gateroad support design process.INTRODUCTIONThe longwall system with caving is the dominant method in European mining in cases of hard coal seam extraction. For instance, in Poland, in 2009, 117 longwalls were driven, with total production of 77.5 million tonnes. In roughly 95% of the longwalls, mining operations were conducted using longwalls with roof caving; the remaining 5% used the hydraulic stowing system. The average mining depth was about 700 m (2,297 ft), and average daily output per face was approximately 2,600 tonnes per day. When using the longwall mining system, gateroads play an important role. These principal roadways transport materials, mine crews, and output. In addition, they impact ventilation of the extraction area, affecting, among other things, the climatic conditions or methane hazard. Unfortunately, difficulties often appear in maintaining an adequate size for the gateroads, due to the face line, which causes origination zones with stress concentration around the gateroad, resulting in rock mass movements in the form ofroofsag, floor heave, or horizontal convergence (Figure 1)."

Jan 1, 2010

By Erik Westman

Coal bumps remain one of the industry?s most devastating but least understood phenomena. If changes to the internal conditions of the rock mass could be observed there is hope that bumps could be forecasted. Seismic tomography has been used over the past 25 years in an attempt to image these changing conditions in the vicinity of the longwall face. This paper describes the history and practical considerations of using seismic tomography in bump-prone coal mines. The implementation of seismic tomography at six different longwall mines will be described along with lessons learned. Early studies used mining independent sources of seismic energy, including explosives and sledgehammers. Subsequently more operator friendly sources, such as the mining equipment itself and mining-induced seismicity, were used. Seismic energy sensors have been placed in gateroads and on the surface above the mine. Each of these configurations has associated advantages and disadvantages. Although the results obtained have been encouraging, the application of seismic tomography to monitoring a bump-prone longwall face is still immature. The ultimate goal of clearly imaging changing stress conditions in the longwall panel in a manner that does not inhibit mining operation is still distant, yet drawing nearer. When this goal is achieved, the industry will have a capable tool for identifying locations where bumps are imminent.

Jan 1, 2008

By Kourosh Shahriar

The occurrence of rock falls in underground coal mines entails detrimental effects as fatal or non-fatal injuries on workers, stoppages in mining operations and breakdown of equipment. In this paper, a risk assessment approach on the basis of a decision analysis trend is employed in order to assess the possibility of and manage roof falls. Risk is then assessed by determination of likelihood of occurrence and the cost of consequences (outcomes). In this regard, collected real roof fall data from Tabas and Kerman coal regions comprising of several underground coal mines are used. It is concluded that the annual accidents due to the roof falls occurrence in the all investigated mines are so high that it is economically feasible to improve the support systems and to implement a suitable educational program as well as an accurate supervision and other elements of safety management.

Jan 1, 2009

By David Hill

The Australian underground coal mining industry is increasingly operating in an environment that challenges traditional concepts of coal pillar design, against a background of heightened expectations and demands from other stakeholders with regard to the protection of both natural surface features and burgeoning civil infrastructure. The result is greater possibility of conflict between mine operators, developers and regulatory bodies, with potential for unnecessary sterilisation of Australia?s coal resources and/or escalating surface development / infrastructure protection costs. On the positive side some significant advances have occurred in the general level of understanding of pillar behaviour and stability, both in Australia and overseas. This paper examines some current issues in coal pillar design, focussing particularly on the application and limitations of analytical models of pillar loading. Established methodologies are reviewed and alternative approaches explored, including examples of key geometrical, geological and probabilistic concepts. Practical experiences from the Southern Coalfield of New South Wales (NSW) are examined for the purpose of highlighting critical variables. Finally, some suggestions are made with regard to the direction and opportunities for future research, with particular regard to coal pillar loading, in the interests of all stakeholders.

Jan 1, 2008

By Rob Thomas

Pre-driven recovery roads are used to speed up the longwall recovery process by reducing bolt-up requirements and by improving ground conditions on the face during the removal of the powered supports. To lower the geotechnical risks associated with the use of pre-driven recovery roads, and so improve its overall acceptance in the industry as a viable alternative to more conventional, potentially difficult and costly longwall recoveries, this paper outlines (i) a geomechanical model for the use and design of pre-driven recovery roads, (ii) an updated version of the worldwide database on pre-driven recovery roads, (iii) a summary of the various methods of holing a longwall into a pre-driven recovery road and (iv) a series of relevant ground support and strata management guidelines.

Jan 1, 2008

By Murali Gadde

The immediate floor bed in the Illinois Basin coal mines is often comprised of weak plastic underclay material. Operational and stability problems were encountered in the past due to the low strength characteristics of the underclay floor. Among several indicators of the nature of the floor, Atterberg limits are the most important ones that describe the plasticity behavior of these clayey materials. While several useful and interesting studies were conducted in the past on the Illinois Basin weak floor material, within the knowledge of the authors, a comprehensive database describing the plasticity characteristics of the floor material has never been published. In this paper, a large database comprising over 700 sets of Atterberg limits was put together from 39 inactive and active mines from all the three states covering the Basin. Analysis of this data shows several interesting trends related to the engineering behavior of the floor material. The paper also describes the practical implications of the trends shown by the Atterberg limits.

Jan 1, 2008

By Thomas Barczak

A cooperative study was conducted with Emerald Coal Resources, L.P., an affiliate of Foundation Coal Corporation, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to evaluate the effectiveness of (partially) pre-driven longwall recovery rooms supported with pumpable roof supports. This paper evaluates the load transfer mechanics associated with the advancement of the longwall face into the pre-driven recovery room and the widening of the room to recover the longwall shields. The results show that the yielding of the panel fender produced uncontrollable convergence that caused yielding of the shields and stiff pumpable roof supports when the face was approximately 10 ft from the recovery room. The shields continued to yield until the face advanced into the recovery room. Convergence in the pre-driven recovery room typically reached 6-8 in once the pumpable supports yielded and shed load through a declining residual load capacity prior to being cut out by the longwall shearer. Roof deformations occurred beyond the 32-ft horizon with total deformation ranging from 2 to 4 in, indicating that standing support was necessary to help control the span as the longwall face advanced into the pre-driven recovery room. Stability improved as the pumpable supports were cut out, thereby reducing the span between the shields and the outby pillars. In the end, the shields were successfully recovered under stable ground conditions. However, a disconcerting discovery was the load shedding of the outby pillars as the recovery room was mined into. It is postulated that this may be due to the progression of the rear ?abutment? moving toward the recovery room as the panel fender and standing support in the recovery room yield and shed load. This behavior was not expected with a relatively narrow room that is fully supported with standing support. If this mechanism is indeed occurring, the width of the room and performance of the standing support becomes even more critical. Premature failure of the support can lead to excessive convergence on the shield line that cannot be controlled even with modern shields, resulting in roof instabilities that can lead to catastrophic results.

Jan 1, 2007

By S. Paul Singh

Rock burst is one of the most serious mining hazards, adversely affecting the safety, economy and productivity of mines. It is a sudden manifestation of the release of strain energy stored in the rock mass. At present, there is no universally accepted method for predicting the timing of the rock burst. However, if the seismically hazardous regions in mines can be identified before they are exposed to mining then precautionary measures can be planned before the work begins. A study was conducted in Sudbury Nickel Belt and an approach has been proposed to identify rock burst prone workings on the basis of (a) Rock properties and bursting indices (b) In-situ approaches (c) Geological features (d) Mining conditions (e) Observations during mining operations (f) Comparison and analogy with previous case histories of bursting. This approach will facilitate the judicious application of the burst control techniques to seismically hazardous areas.

Jan 1, 2008

By Jun Han

Coal has been mined in the Kailuan mining area for more than 130 years. The remaining reserves consist of, in large part, coals that would have been considered economically unminable or technically not feasible by the previous generations. Some of the current operations have to resort to overmining because the lower seams had been extracted in the past. This paper deals with the feasibility and proper layout of mining roadways of overmining carried out in the No. 5 seam of Qianjiaying coal mine of Kailuan mining area using numerical and physical simulation. FLAC2D was used to investigate the characteristics of stress and displacement in the overburden after extraction of the lower seams. It also analyzed the proper layouts of gateroads in the upper seams, i.e. locating them in the stress-relief zone of the gob so that their stability can be easily maintained. In addition, a two-dimensional physical model was constructed for investigation of damages to the upper seams due to mining of the lower seams. Finally, based on the results of investigations, proper gateroads layout was designed and successful extraction was implemented for panel 1357 in the No.5 seam.

Jan 1, 2009