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Analysis of Hydro-fracturing Technique Using Ultra-deep Boreholes for Coal Mining with Hard Roofs: a Case Study

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Abstract

The presence of hard roof poses a significant threat to the safety of underground coal mining. In this study, a mechanical model is established for underground stopes to analyze the overburden structure with the advancing of the mining face. It is indicated that the load-bearing arch structure (LBAS) is formed above the stope for roofs with regular hardness, whereas the reversed-basin bearing structure (RBBS) is formed for hard roofs. Compared with the LBAS, the RBBS can induce an additional pressure at the foot of the bearing structure, and this effect becomes less as the distance between the hard roof and stope increases. The ultra-deep borehole hydro-fracturing technique (UHT) is proposed to weaken the hard roof for pressure release, and the associated equipment and procedures are also presented. The UHT is based on horizontal drilling along the axial direction of the roadway in the roof, and then the receding segmented hydraulic fracturing technique is used to achieve the purpose of fracturing (weakening) of the surrounding rocks. Field tests are carried out in 3022 roadway of Daliangwan coal mine in Yulin to assess the developed technique, equipment, and fracturing procedures. To evaluate the fracturing effect, deep borehole stress-meters are installed at different depths of the fractured and un-fractured zones of the roadway, along with hydraulic support pressure sensors placed at the mining face. The results show that compared with the un-fractured zone, the pressure on the wall and pillar sides is lower than that in the fractured zone, and the associated weighting duration and weighting area ratio of the fractured are reduced by 53.23% and 33.59%, respectively. This indicates that the presented UHT can provide a new solution for the prevention and control of mining disasters induced by hard roof failures in underground coal mining.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Daliangwan coal mine for providing field testing.

Funding

This study was supported by the Tiandi Science and Technology Co., Ltd. Science and Technology Innovation Venture Capital Special Project, grant numbers “2019-TD-ZD008, KJ-2018-TDKCZL-05 and 2019-TD-ZD006”; State Key Program of National Natural Science of China “Grant No. 2017YFC0603003”; National Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars of China “Grant No. 51704160 and 51704156.”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beijing Mining Research Institute, China Coal Research Institute, Beijing, 100013, China

    Jianwei Zheng, Wenjun Ju, Xiaodong Sun, Pengfei Jiang, Yangfa Zheng, Zhaorui Ma, Lingfu Zhu & Bingding Yi

  2. CCTEG Coal Mining Research Institute, Beijing, 100013, China

    Jianwei Zheng, Wenjun Ju, Xiaodong Sun, Pengfei Jiang, Yangfa Zheng, Zhaorui Ma, Lingfu Zhu & Bingding Yi

  3. Coal Mining & Designing Department, Tiandi Science & Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing, 100013, China

    Jianwei Zheng, Wenjun Ju, Xiaodong Sun, Pengfei Jiang, Yangfa Zheng, Zhaorui Ma, Lingfu Zhu & Bingding Yi

  4. Institute of Geology and Geophysics Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Xiaodong Sun

  5. Daliangwan coal mine, Yulin, 719000, Shaanxi, China

    Lingfu Zhu & Bingding Yi

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  1. Jianwei Zheng
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Correspondence to Jianwei Zheng.

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Zheng, J., Ju, W., Sun, X. et al. Analysis of Hydro-fracturing Technique Using Ultra-deep Boreholes for Coal Mining with Hard Roofs: a Case Study. Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration 38, 471–484 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42461-020-00334-2

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