Shengyong Hu

An investigation of the key factors influencing methane recovery by surface boreholes

The paper deals with key factors influencing surface borehole gas drainage. Herein, the surface borehole drilled through the overburden of gobs, which was commonly operated in China, has been investigated. By building a mathematical model, the literature probed into the issue that how such factors as permeability coefficient and pressure of coal seams affected the flow of pure methane under standard conditions. The results indicated that a key factor was the distance between mining face and borehole (reflecting the gas permeability coefficients of overlying coal seams and gobs). The data measured from surface gas drainage practice at Wulan Coal Mine verified the conclusions of the theoretical research.