Risk assessment of gas control and spontaneous combustion of coal under gas drainage of an upper tunnel

Abstract

Abstract The adjustment of the gas drainage rate has an immediate impact on air leakage in gob, thus resulting in the change of self-heating of coal. While regulating the gas drainage parameters, the risk of spontaneous combustion of coal should be considered. The risk assessment of gas control and spontaneous combustion of coal under gas drainage in a tunnel was investigated at different gas drainage rates. The distributions of the air volume along the working face, the gas management effects and the width of the oxidation zone were subjected to risk analysis. As the simulation results showed, with increasing gas drainage rate, although the safety of gas dilution by ventilation was assured, the intensifying air leakage caused the oxidation zone to move into the deeper gob and led to an increase in the width of the oxidation zone. A risk assessment method was proposed to determine a suitable gas drainage rate for the upper tunnel. The correctness of the risk assessment and the validity of the numerical modelling were confirmed by the field measurements.