Latest ArticlesAs the mining depth of steeply inclined and extremely thick coal seams continuously increases, the rock burst disasters associated with them are becoming increasingly severe. The rock burst-inducing factors exhibit diversity and keep evolving, which poses difficulties to precise prevention of rock bursts. To address these issues, this paper explored the evolutionary patterns of inducing factors in a typical steeply inclined and extremely thick coal seams mine in Xinjiang by means of case analysis, field monitoring, and theoretical analysis. By analyzing five typical rock burst events in the mine, the main inducing factors were found to be steeply inclined roofs, intermediate rock pillars, remaining coal pillars, mining depth, mining intensity, and horizontal tectonic stress. Moreover, an improved analytic hierarchy process incorporating triangular fuzzy numbers was proposed to quantitatively evaluate the weights of these inducing factors and characterize their evolutionary patterns. The results disclose that steeply inclined roofs and intermediate rock pillars possess the highest weights and constitute the most significant inducing factors, and their weights keep growing with the continuous mining of coal seams. The weights of mining depth and horizontal tectonic stress generally rise with the continuous mining of coal seams, which reflects their enhanced inducing effects. In contrast, the weight of remaining coal pillars generally shows a decreasing trend, suggesting their gradually diminishing influence within the gob on rock bursts. The weight of mining intensity also decreases overall. Fianlly, the evolutionary patterns of inducing factors in steeply inclined and extremely thick coal seams were well verified through mining data analysis, microseismic monitoring, ground stress testing, numerical simulation, and theoretical research. The research results can provide support for precise control of rock bursts in steeply inclined and extremely thick coal seams.
The Yushenfu mining area is characterized by shallow coal seams, thin overlying bedrock, and thick loose layers, and most mines in this mining area involve repeated mining of multiple coal seams. Affected by multiple factors such as coal seam mining height and spacing, the spatial interaction of surrounding rock in the upper and lower stopes makes it challenging to accurately predict fracture zone height. In this paper, the fracture zone height under multi-coal seam repeated mining in typical coal mines in the Yushenfu mining area was taken as the research object, and the research methods of physical similarity simulation, theoretical analysis, and deep learning were used. First, the fracture development law under multi-coal seam repeated mining was analyzed. Subsequently, a multi-factor coupling nonlinear regression model was established to describe the relationship between the fracture zone height and key parameters, including coal seam mining height, spacing, burial depth, dip angle, working face length, and interval rock strength. On this basis, the prediction method of fracture zone height under multi-coal seam repeated mining based on the SSA-BP neural network was established, and its accuracy was verified. The results indicate that the fracture development under repeated mining in Ciyaota Coal Mine exhibits a three-stage characteristic, i.e., localized slow growth, nonlinear rapid increase through interconnection, and dynamic stabilization. The ultimate height of the fracture zone reaches 139.0 m. The nonlinear regression model incorporating the coupled effects of coal seam mining height, interlayer spacing, strength of intervening rock strata, and working face length achieves an R2 value of 0.880, confirming these parameters as key influencing factors for the fracture zone height. Compared to predictions from traditional empirical formulas and the BP model, the SSA-BP model demonstrates reductions in MAPE values by 22.96% and 6.70%, respectively, and attains a low RMSE of 1.79, indicating superior stability. Validation at the 14205 working face of Zhonghui Funeng Coal Mine in the Yushenfu mining area shows a relative error of 1.3% between the predicted and measured heights, well below 5%. The study demonstrates strong generalizability for predicting the height of water-conducting fracture zones under multi-coal seam repeated mining in the Yushenfu mining area and provides valuable insights for water hazard prevention and control under such mining conditions.
To address the inadequate understanding of the fracturing behavior of thick-hard strata and the collapse-movement mechanism of overlying strata in 10 m ultra-large mining height faces of extra-thick coal seams, this study took the 122104 working face of Caojiatan Coal Mine as the engineering background. A combined approach involving physical similarity simulation, image processing with statistical analysis, and field monitoring was adopted to investigate the dominant role of thick-hard strata breakage in the overburden collapse and movement process. The engineering applicability and consistency of the model results were verified with field measurements. (1) An automatic fracture extraction and multi-index quantification method based on multi-temporal overburden images was proposed, enabling efficient quantification of parameters such as fracture development height, coverage area, and total length. The results show that the fracture parameters exhibit a pronounced "step-like" jump evolution with face advance, where each abrupt change strictly corresponds to the breakage sequence of specific thick-hard strata (I, II, and III). This quantitatively reveals, from the perspective of fracture evolution, the controlling effect of thick-hard strata breakage on overburden movement. (2) The breakage mechanism of thick-hard strata is characterized as a "cantilever beam-coordinated collapse" process. Before breakage, thick-hard strata form a large-span cantilever beam structure that constrains overburden collapse; when the cantilever reaches its limit, sudden breakage occurs, triggering large-scale coordinated collapse of the overburden, demonstrating typical structural failure characteristics. (3) Field monitoring data, including layered subsidence, mine pressure, and microseismicity, provide effective mutual validation with the model experiments. The coordinated movement mode of strata revealed by the layered subsidence curves aligns well with the "step-like" propagation pattern of fractures observed in the model; mine pressure monitoring indicates that the breakage of thick-hard strata II and III directly induces intense periodic weighting; microseismic monitoring further confirms that the periodic breakage of thick-hard strata constitutes the main source of concentrated energy release in the overburden. These results jointly verify, in terms of spatial evolution and energy release, the field applicability of the mechanism by which thick-hard strata breakage dominates overburden movement. From the perspective of fracture evolution, this study systematically elucidates the mechanism of thick-hard strata breakage-dominated overburden collapse and movement under ultra-large mining height conditions, providing a quantitative theoretical basis for improving overburden movement theory and preventing roof disasters in 10 m ultra-large mining height faces.
With the escalating global demand for carbon emission reduction, CO2 sequestration and enhanced coal-bed methane (CO2-ECBM) has attracted widespread international attention due to its distinctive advantages in promoting the synergistic development of energy development and carbon emission reduction. This paper systematically reviewed recent advances in CO2-ECBM research across scientific, engineering, and policy-economic dimensions. Besides, it elucidated the sequestration mechanisms governed by a synergistic suite of processes, including adsorption trapping, capillary trapping, structural trapping, solubility trapping, and mineral trapping, and further evaluated the technological maturity and economic feasibility of the technology. The results demonstrate that CO2-ECBM technology not only effectively promotes coalbed methane recovery but also offers substantial sequestration potential and favorable geological stability. Through a comparative analysis on typical demonstration projects conducted worldwide, it is pointed out that practical applications of this technology still face challenges such as poor injectability of coal seams, permeability decline induced by CO2 injection, insufficient assessment of long-term sequestration safety, and economic feasibility hampered by technical costs and carbon price volatility. Drawing on bibliometric analysis and hotspot evolution mapping, this study outlines the current research landscape and development trajectory, highlighting critical future priorities such as geological suitability evaluation systems for sequestration sites, high-efficiency technologies for coal seam permeability enhancement, multi-field coupled multi-scale CO2 migration mechanisms, and intelligent monitoring and early warning systems for sequestration stability. Concurrently, it is imperative to strengthen technology integration and policy support to accelerate the commercialization and scaling of CO2-ECBM technology. These initiatives are critical for underpinning global efforts toward achieving carbon neutrality goals.
To address issues such as insufficient stirring of resin anchoring agent, inadequate filling in reamed areas, eccentricity of cable bolts, and damage to hole walls during cable bolts reaming anchoring in soft rock roadways, a resin anchoring enhancement technology based on the Multi-segment Reaming Anchoring Enhancement (MRAE) component was proposed. Through theoretical analysis, the mechanisms of MRAE, including the "graded crushing-gradient stirring", the synergistic flow control of "ascending guidance-sealing", and the "centralized limiting-radial support" were revealed, and the mechanisms by which MRAE enhances the stirring effect of resin anchoring agent, the strength of the anchor solid, the pull-out resistance, and the centering performance of the cable bolt were also clarified. Besides, numerical simulations were conducted to comparatively analyze the characteristics of the stirring flow field of resin anchoring agent between MRAE and ordinary cable bolts, verifying that MRAE enhances the migration speed and diffusion range of resin. Moreover, laboratory experiments were performed to study the influence of MRAE on the drilling thrust, torque, and pull-out force of cable bolts. The results show that the average peak pull-out force of the enhanced anchoring group (36.5 kN) is 2.5 times that of the ordinary anchoring group (14.9 kN), and the centering degree is significantly improved. Field tests further verify the effectiveness of this technology. In soft rock roadways, both the pull-out force and pre-tightening force of the enhanced anchoring cable bolts meet the design values. The roof separation displacement is reduced by a factor of 1.52 compared with ordinary anchoring. Even under non-reaming conditions, its anchoring force still meets engineering requirements. The research results provide a theoretical basis and technical support for improving the anchoring quality of cable bolts in soft rock roadways.
Deep coal mining is confronted with complex geological conditions and strong engineering disturbances. The environment characterized by high geostress, high gas pressure, high geothermal temperature, and intense mining disturbance frequently induces nonlinear large deformation and catastrophic instability of surrounding rock, which seriously restricts the safe and efficient exploitation of deep geological resources. To investigate the mechanical response and energy evolution characteristics of coal and rock under deep true triaxial stress conditions, true triaxial tests were conducted on raw coal, sandstone, and composite coal-rock specimens under different intermediate principal stresses with the aid of a multifunctional true triaxial fluid-solid coupling testing system. The results show that composite coal-rock exhibits stronger plastic deformation capacity and a smaller post-peak stress drop. The dissipated energy of coal increases significantly after the peak, whereas that of sandstone accelerates during the plastic stage. The energy evolution of composite coal-rock approaches sandstone at low stress and resembles coal at high stress. For coal, the fluctuation peaks of the energy release rate (
The surrounding rock of roadways often contains complex joint fractures, holes of different sizes, and other internal structural characteristics, which seriously affect their stability. Indoor physical model tests are one of the main ways to study the stability of engineering rock masses. However, traditional methods struggle to produce physical models with exactly the same structures and properties, and the mechanical properties and internal structures of physical models differ considerably from those of in-situ rock masses, which greatly limits the scientific nature of physical model tests in reflecting the actual engineering roadway. In recent years, the rapid development of 3D printing technology has effectively made up for the shortcomings of traditional methods. At the level of material research and development, sand-powder 3D printing coal-rock-like materials with high similarity to natural coal-rock in mechanical behavior are successfully prepared by systematically regulating printing matrix, particle gradation, binder saturation, and glass fiber content. This progress lays a material foundation for the production of physical models. At the level of mechanism research, based on mechanical tests on anchorage bodies using such coal-rock materials, the anchorage mechanisms of supporting elements such as bolts have been systematically revealed. These tests verify the feasibility of using these materials to simulate the anchorage in natural rock masses and provide a theoretical basis for the design of supporting structure. Finally, at the level of physical model tests, researches have employed the sand-powder 3D printing technology with the layered printing process to construct physical models of anchored roadways under the conditions of both intact surrounding rock and fractured surrounding rock. The influence of cracks on the deformation and failure law of roadway is quantitatively analyzed with the aid of the biaxial loading system and the digital speckle technique (DIC). The failure modes revealed by the tests are highly consistent with the field observation results. Collectively, these studies confirm that the sand-powder 3D printing technology can achieve high-precision reconstruction with respect to material properties, internal structure, and mechanical response, effectively overcoming the shortcomings of traditional model tests and showing good application prospects and scientificity in physical simulation research of rock mass engineering.
Aiming at the problem of coal pillar instability in the fully mechanized mining face section of hard roof and floor, taking the section coal pillar of the track haulage roadway in the 1016 working face of a certain mine in Xinjiang as the engineering background, through theoretical analysis, numerical simulation and field test research methods. The movement law of overlying strata in the working face was analyzed. The causes of energy accumulation in the coal pillar under the condition of hard roof and floor were proposed. The function relationship between the elastic strain energy density in the coal pillar and the first and third principal stresses was studied. According to the theory of elasticity, the stress and energy distribution laws in the coal pillar under different stress concentration coefficients were obtained. The research shows that after the upper working face is mined, the thick and hard basic roof will form a "long cantilever beam" structure, causing the load in the coal pillar to increase. Due to the significant difference in strength between the coal mass and the roof and floor, the energy input from the outside into the "roof-coal pillar-floor" system mainly accumulates in the coal pillar in the form of elastic strain energy. The elastic strain energy at any position in the section coal pillar can be roughly regarded as a positive correlation with the first and third principal stresses. The junction of the elastic and plastic zones in the coal pillar and the surrounding area are the main parts where the elastic strain energy is accumulated, while the accumulation degree of elastic strain energy in the broken zone of the coal body is relatively small. The deterioration of the stress environment of the coal pillar after the roadway is excavated, the release of the accumulated energy in the coal pillar is the main reasons for the deformation and failure of the coal pillar. The prevention and control technology of "intensive drilling in the roof + coal pillar drilling pressure relief + strengthening support" was proposed, and the field application effect was obvious.
Deep mining of coal resources is commonly accompanied by high in-situ stress and progressive energy accumulation, which can readily trigger dynamic disasters such as rock bursts. From the perspective of material toughening, elucidating the impact-mitigation mechanisms of coal-based cemented fill materials and establishing an quantitative characterization and evaluation index system for toughening based on the energy dissipation theory are emerging as promising approaches for achieving impact-mitigation control and optimizing material-oriented design. To clarify the impact-mitigation mechanisms, this study employed coal-based solid wastes as the primary constituents and systematically investigated the coupled effects of aggregate gradation, binder-to-aggregate ratio, curing age, and fiber toughening through uniaxial compression tests, energy evolution analysis, rock burst propensity assessment, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results indicate that aggregate gradation, binder-to-aggregate ratio, and curing age exert significant influences on the mechanical performance of the cemented fill. The uniaxial compressive strength grows with the increase in curing age, and rises first and falls subsequently with the increases in Talbot index n and binder-to-aggregate ratio, reaching an optimum at a curing age of 28 d with n=0.6 and a binder-to-aggregate ratio of 2.5∶1. The incorporation of polypropylene fibers markedly enhances the compressive strength and improves post-peak ductility, broadens the energy-dissipation pathways, and enables sustained absorption and dissipation of externally imposed impact energy during the post-peak failure stage. Based on the energy dissipation theory, a FIMI-Lite impact-mitigation evaluation framework comprising five indices (energy dissipation ratio, dynamic toughness index, residual load-bearing ratio, brittleness index, and equivalent vibration isolation coefficient) was proposed to quantitatively characterize the impact-mitigation performance of cemented fill materials. Comparative analyses show that fiber-toughened fills outperform the conventional counterparts across all indices, with the fiber-toughened fill at n=0.4 achieving the highest comprehensive FIMI-Lite score. SEM observations reveal that an appropriate gradation promotes the formation of a dense load-bearing skeleton, whereas the incorporation of fibers conduces to constructing a three-dimensional "particle-cementitious matrix-fiber" network. The synergy of these two factors refines the pore structure, retards crack propagation, and enables stepwise energy absorption and progressive release. The above microstructural findings establish a mechanistic linkage to the macroscopic impact-mitigation performance. The proposed approach provides a scientific basis for optimizing the design of coal-based cemented fill materials and for preventing and controlling coal burst hazards in deep coal mining.
The complex environment of mining working faces—including dust, high humidity, and smoke—causes severe feature degradation in monitoring images under varying fog concentrations. Moreover, existing dehazing models trained mainly on synthetic data exhibit domain gaps with real mining fog, limiting intelligent monitoring effectiveness and posing safety risks. This study proposes a dehazing method for working face images based on fog grading and domain differences. First, fog evaluation metrics guide image grading, enabling adaptive network selection for light and dense fog scenarios. Second, a contrastive learning strategy refines negative samples based on fog concentration, improving feature discrimination and cross-domain generalization. Finally, an unsupervised fine-tuning strategy with cyclic consistency mitigates domain bias between synthetic and real fog images without requiring annotations. Experiments show that the proposed method outperforms existing approaches on both synthetic and real datasets, supporting safe and intelligent monitoring in coal mines.