Mining Publication: A Review of the Mechanisms of Gas Outbursts in Coal
Original creation date: January 1987
Outbursts are sudden and violent releases of gas and coal that result from a complex function of geology, stress regime, and gas pressure and content. The Bureau of Mines has reviewed methods for prediction and mitigation of such outbursts in use worldwide as an aid in selecting the proper techniques for use in specific mine environments. Outburst-prone coal may be distinguished from normal coal by its sorption-desorption velocity. Three types of methods used to characterize the kinetics of sorption-desorption are described; all are based on the ability of outburst-prone coal to release, through desorption, methane or carbon dioxide much more rapidly than normal coals. Other prediction methods, based on borehole samples, are also described. Various mitigation methods described and evaluated include (1) working the least stressed, less disturbed, lowest gas content seam in multiple-seam areas; (2) mine opening geometry; (3) inducer shot firing; (4) water infusion; (5) localized stress relief using boreholes or by cutting a reliever slot in the longwall face; and (6) other gas drainage methods.
Authors: DM Hyman
Information Circular - January 1987
NIOSHTIC2 Number: 10005913
Pittsburgh, PA: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, IC 9155, , NTIS PB88-2317171987 Jan; :1-11
See Also
- Assessing the Methane Hazard of Gassy Coals in Storage Silos
- The Direct Method of Determining Methane Content of Coalbeds for Ventilation Design
- Investigation of Methane Occurrence and Outbursts in the Cote Blanche Domal Salt Mine, Louisiana
- Measuring the Gas Content of Coal: A Review
- Methane Diffusion Parameters for Sized Coal Particles: A Measuring Apparatus and Some Preliminary Results
- Methane Emission Rate Studies in a Northern West Virginia Mine
- Methane Emissions from Gassy Coals in Storage Silos
- Modeling and Prediction of Ventilation Methane Emissions of U.S. Longwall Mines Using Supervised Artificial Neural Networks
- Reservoir Engineering Considerations for Coal Seam Degasification and Methane Control in Underground Mines
- Reservoir Rock Properties of Coal Measure Strata of the Lower Monongahela Group, Greene County (Southwestern Pennsylvania), from Methane Control and Production Perspectives
- Content source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Mining Program