Abstract
Properly accounting for the effect of heterogeneity of aquifers and accurately predicting mine water inflow during the mining process is still a challenging problem in China. We developed a stochastic modelling methodology that considers a large range of possible multi-scale fracture configurations and heterogeneous porous rock to predict mine water inflow close to the observed data. The coupled discrete fracture–rock matrix models were built for the Binhu coal mine 16,112 working face with the Monte Carlo method. The models were solved using the embedded discrete fracture model to calculate groundwater inflow from the aquifer beneath the coal seam floor. The calculated results and the observed groundwater inflows in the field agreed well. Sensitivity analysis indicates that groundwater inflow increases with increased fracture length and fracture density. The effect of natural fractures introduces a large uncertainty for the models, due to the existence of long fractures that could act as conduits between the Ordovician limestone and no. 14 aquifers. The results highlight the importance of multi-scale fractures on modeling and simulating flow in the mine area.
Zusammenfassung
Die korrekte Berücksichtigung der Auswirkungen der Heterogenität von Grundwasserleitern und die genaue Vorhersage des Grubenwasserzustroms während der Gewinnung ist in China immer noch ein schwieriges Problem. Es wurde eine stochastische Modellierungsmethode entwickelt, die eine große Bandbreite möglicher multiskaliger Bruchkonfigurationen und heterogenes wasserdurchlässiges Gebirge berücksichtigt, um Zuflusspara-meter von Grubenwasser vorherzusagen, die den beobachteten Werten nahekommen. Die gekoppelten diskreten Bruch- und Gesteinsmatrix-modelle wurden mit der Monte-Carlo-Methode für die Abbaufront 16112 im Kohlenbergbau Binhu erstellt. Die Berechnung des Grundwasserzuflusses aus dem Grundwasserleiter im Liegend des Kohleflözes, erfolgt mit Hilfe der eingebetteten diskreten Bruchmodellierung. Die berechneten Ergebnisse und die beobachteten Grundwasserzuflüsse im Feld stimmen gut überein. Eine Sensitivitätsanalyse zeigt, dass der Grundwasserzufluss mit zunehmender Bruchlänge und Bruchdichte zunimmt. Die Auswirkung natürlicher Störungszonen stellt eine große Unsicherheit für die Modelle dar, da es ausgedehnte Störungen gibt, die als hydraulische Verbindung zwischen dem ordovizischen Kalkstein und dem Grundwasserleiter Nr. 14 fungieren können. Die Ergebnisse verdeutlichen die Bedeutung der multiskaligen Bruchkonfigurationen für die Modellierung und Simulation der Grubenwasserströme.
Resumen
La consideración adecuada del efecto de la heterogeneidad de los acuíferos para predecir con exactitud la irrupción de agua en la mina durante el proceso de extracción, sigue siendo un problema difícil en China. Hemos desarrollado una metodología de modelización estocástica que tiene en cuenta una amplia gama de posibles configuraciones de fractura a escala múltiple y roca porosa heterogénea para predecir la afluencia de agua a la mina de forma cercana a los datos observados. Los modelos discretos acoplados de fractura-matriz de roca se construyeron para el frente de trabajo de la mina de carbón Binhu 16112 con el método de Monte Carlo. Los modelos se resolvieron utilizando el modelo de fractura discreta embebido para calcular la entrada de agua subterránea desde el acuífero bajo el suelo de la veta de carbón. Hubo buena coincidencia entre los resultados calculados y las entradas de agua subterránea observadas. El análisis de sensibilidad indica que la entrada de agua subterránea aumenta con el incremento de la longitud y la densidad de las fracturas. El efecto de las fracturas naturales introduce una gran incertidumbre en los modelos, debido a la existencia de largas fracturas que podrían actuar como conductos entre la caliza ordovícica y los acuíferos del nº 14. Los resultados ponen de manifiesto la importancia de las fracturas a escala múltiple en la modelización y simulación del flujo en la zona de la mina.
摘要
在中国, 合理考虑含水层各向异性影响和准确预测采矿过程矿井涌水量仍是挑战性问题。开发了一种考虑大量多尺度裂隙和各向异性多孔岩石的随机建模方法, 用以预测观测数据附近的矿井涌水量。用蒙特卡洛方法建立了滨湖煤矿16112工作面的耦合离散裂隙-岩石介质模型。利用嵌入式离散裂缝模型求解和计算出煤层底板含水层的地下水涌水量。计算结果和现场观察地下水涌水量吻合一致。敏感度分析表明, 地下水涌水量随裂缝长度和裂缝密度的增大而增长。天然裂隙给模型带来很大不确定性, 因为可能存在连通奥陶纪石灰岩和14号含水层的天然长裂隙。结果突出了多尺度裂隙对建模和水流模拟的重要性。
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Acknowledgements
We thank the editors and the three anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback and insightful comments which greatly improved this paper. The research was financially supported by the: National Key R&D Program of China 2017YFC0804101), National Natural Science Foundation of China (42002261), National Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (ZR2019MD013; ZR2019BD028), Science and Technology Research Guiding Program, China National Coal Association (MTKJ 2018-262), and Scientific Research Foundation of Shandong University of Science and Technology for Recruited Talents (2019RCJJ004). The authors are grateful to the developers of the open source code ADFNE and MRST.
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Chen, T., Yin, H., Zhai, Y. et al. Numerical Simulation of Mine Water Inflow with an Embedded Discrete Fracture Model: Application to the 16112 Working Face in the Binhu Coal Mine, China. Mine Water Environ 41, 156–167 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10230-021-00820-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10230-021-00820-z