Safety analysis of stability of surface gas drainage boreholes above goaf areas

摘要

As longwall caving mining method prevails rapidly in China coal mines, amount of gas emission from longwall faces and goaf area increased significantly. Using traditional gas drainage methods, such as drilling upward holes to roof strata in tailgate or drilling in-seam and cross-measure boreholes, could not meet methane drainage requirements in a gassy mine. The alternative is to drill boreholes from surface down to the longwall goaf area to drain the gas out. As soon as a coal seam is extracted out, the upper rock strata above the goaf start to collapse or become fractured depending upon the rock characteristics and the height above the coal seam. During overlying rock strata being fractured, boreholes in the area may be damaged due to ground movement after the passage of the longwall face. The sudden damage of a borehole may cause a longwall production halt or even a serious mine accident. A theoretical calculation of the stability of surface boreholes in mining affected area is introduced along with an example of determination of borehole and casing diameters is given for demonstration. By using this method for the drilling design, the damage of surface boreholes caused by excessive mining induced displacement can be effectively reduced if not totally avoided. Borehole and casing diameters as well as characteristics of filling materials can be determined using the proposed method by calculating the horizontal movement and vertical stain at different borehole depths.