Definition, theory, methods, and applications of the safe and efficient simultaneous extraction of coal and gas

Simultaneous extraction of the coal and gas is an effective method of eliminating coal mine gas disasters while safely exploiting the coal and achieving efficient gas drainage in China, which is widely accepted by the main coal-producing countries around the world. However, the concrete definition of simultaneous extraction is vague and there is little accurate theoretical support for the simultaneous extraction of coal and gas, which makes it difficult to determine an efficient gas drainage method appropriate to the features of coal seams. Based on theoretical analysis, laboratory tests and field observations, a specific definition of simultaneous extraction of coal and gas is proposed after analyzing the characteristics of coal seam occurrences in China, and we developed the mechanism of mining-enhanced permeability and established the corresponding theoretical model. This comprises a process of fracture network formation, in which the original fractures are opened and new fractures are produced by unloading damage. According to the theoretical model, the engineering approaches and their quantitative parameters of ‘unloading by borehole drilling’ for single coal seams and ‘unloading by protective seam mining’ for groups of coal seams are proposed, and the construction principles for coal exploitation and gas-drainage systems for different conditions are given. These methods were applied successfully in the Tunlan Coal Mine in Shanxi Province and the Panyi Coal Mine in Anhui Province and could assure safe and efficient simultaneous extraction of coal and gas in these outburst coal mines.