Journals →  Gornyi Zhurnal →  2017 →  #6 →  Back

INDUSTRY SAFETY AND LABOUR PROTECTION
ArticleName Reserves for enhancing in-seam methane drainage efficiency for improvement of working conditions of miners
DOI 10.17580/gzh.2017.06.17
ArticleAuthor Kaledina N. O., Malashkina V. A.
ArticleAuthorData

College of Mining, National University of Science and Technology–MISIS, Moscow, Russia:

N. O. Kaledina, Professor, Doctor of Engineering Sciences, nok52@mail.ru
V. A. Malashkina, Professor, Doctor of Engineering Sciences

Abstract

The article addresses the issues of mine methane safety. The analysis of causes of accidents, among basic ones, points at insufficient development of methane safety issues in detailed designs. It is emphasized that sustained high productivity of cutting–loading machines needs enhancement of mine methane drainage efficiency, primarily, in coal beds under mining, for methane release from mined-out voids can be efficiently controlled using airing schemes with isolated dilution of methane with respect to its source. Working conditions in coal mines, despite the use of advanced protection equipment, including multi-functional safety systems, yet represent the most hazardous environment in mining. The highest threat to life of miners is considerable methane release from high-grade power-generating and coking coal. Thus, ensuring safe working environment by means of reduction in mine air methane content in the course of highly productive coal mining remains of the current concern. In most mines characterized by high methane content of coal, ventilation systems fail to maintain allowable methane concentration in a production face area during operation of a high-duty cutter–loader. Idling of cutter–loaders in order to drain face areas limits capacity of modern machines, which calls for improvement of inseam methane drainage efficiency. This article shows potential ways of upgrading coal mine methane drainage systems towards appreciable enhancement of mining safety of extraction panels in terms of methane owing to the control over gas-dynamic processes in mine drainage systems through sound selection of the design parameters of underground vacuum gas line with regard to hydro- and thermo-dynamic processes during transport of air and methane mixture. The reserve for enhancing efficiency of in-seam methane drainage and recovered methane utilization is adjustment of operating regimes of drainage plants depending on current parameters of mine air methane content. It is suggested to develop and document a procedure for joint calculation of design parameters and technical characteristics for mine ventilation–drainage system applicable at the stage of mine planning and in the course of actual mining.

keywords Working conditions, coal bed, gas drainage, ventilation, hydraulic resistance, underground vacuum gas line, air and methane mixture, Darcy coefficient, mine methane utilization
References

1. Chebotarev A. G., Lagutina G. A. Working environment, occupational morbidity, health care and preventive treatment of mine personnel. Gornaya promyshlennost. 2014. No. 6. p. 75.
2. About the occupational morbidity of the mine branch workers in the Kuzbass industry. Available at: https://exkavator.ru/articles/disease/~id=7851 (accessed: 25.04.2017).
3. Kosterenko V. N., Timchenko A. N., Vorobeva O. V. Analysis of causes of accidents to improve occupational safety control efficiency in mines. Gornyy informatsionnoanaliticheskiy byulleten. 2015. No. 12. pp. 194–199.
4. Annual report about the activity of the Federal service for ecological, technological and nuclear inspection in 2014. Moscow : NTTs PB, 2015. 442 p. Available at: http://www.gosnadzor.ru/public/annual_reports/%D0%93%D0%94%202014.pdf (accessed: 25.04.2017).
5. Puchkov L. A., Kaledina N. O., Kobylkin S. S. System solutions of provision of methane safety of coal mines. Gornyi Zhurnal. 2014. No. 5. pp. 12–16.
6. Junjie Chen, Deguang Xu. Ventilation air Methane of Coal Mines as the Sustainable Energy Source. American Journal of Mining and Metallurgy. 2015. Vol. 3, Iss. 1. pp. 1–8.
7. Kaledina N. O., Malashkina V. A. Preliminary and post-working degassing for effective and safe mining. Coal – Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development: 23rd Annual International Pittsburgh Coal Conference, 2006. pp. 231–237.
8. uvar M. C., Lupu C., Arad V., Cioclea D., Psculescu V. M., Mija N. Computerized simulation of mine ventilation networks for sustainable decision making process. Environmental Engineering and Management Journal. 2014. Vol. 13, No. 6. pp. 1445–1451.
9. Guidace for coal mines degassing. Issue 22. Series 05. Documents for safety, inspection and permitting activities in coal industry. Moscow : NTTs PB, 2012. 250 p.
10. Malashkina V. A. Degassing units : tutorial. Second edition. Moscow : Izdatelstvo MGGU, 2007. 190 p.
11. Du Plessis J. J. L. Ventilation and Occupational Environmental Engineering in Mines. MineVentilation Society of South Africa. 2014. Vol. 3. pp. 121–129.
12. Krings T., Gerilowski K., Buchwitz M., Hartmann J., Sachs T., Erzinger J., Burrows J., Bovensmann H. Quantification of methane emission rates from coal mine ventilation shafts using airborne remote sensing data. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques. 2013. Vol. 6. pp. 151–166.
13. Malashkina V. A. Research of influence of hydro-and thermodynamic processes in the degassing pipelines on the quality of a methane-air mixture, involved from coal mines. Gornyy informatsionno-analiticheskiy byulleten. 2014. No. 5. pp. 221–228.
14. Karacan C. Ö. Modeling and prediction of ventilation methane emissions of U.S. longwall mines using supervised artificial neural networks. International Journal of Coal Geology. 2008. Vol. 73, Iss. 3-4. pp. 371–387.
15. Zhang Y., Doroodchi E., Moghtaderi B. Utilization of ventilation air methane as an oxidizing agent in chemical looping combustion. Energy Conversion and Management. 2014. Vol. 85. pp. 839–847.

Language of full-text russian
Full content Buy
Back