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Preventing water inrush hazards in coal mines by coal gangue backfilling in gobs: influences of the particle size and stress on seepage characteristics

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Abstract

The backfilling mining method that fills gobs with coal gangue can prevent water inrush hazards, protect groundwater resources, and protect the ecological environment of the mining area. However, initial conditions including the particle size distribution of gangue and the stress environment may affect the seepage characteristics of gangue backfill and inrush prevention ability. Taking the particle size and stress as main controlling factors, the seepage tests were designed for gangue to evaluate influences of the particle size and stress on the void ratio, permeability, and non-Darcian flow factor of gangue. In the meantime, the four stages in dynamic changes of seepage channels were studied and the impervious envelope lines of gangue backfill materials were provided. The results show that the larger the particle sizes, the stronger the crushing resistance of particles; under high stress (> 6.67 MPa), seepage channels in small gangue particles (< 5 mm) change in a more complex manner, and the non-Darcian flow phenomena become more significant. The particle size and stress exert significant influences on the seepage characteristics. Therefore, when reducing water inrush hazards by gangue backfilling in gobs, the particle size distribution should be optimized by combining the stress and water pressure conditions. Seepage channels in gangue backfill materials vary with changes in the particle size and stress. Their variation can be divided into four stages: shrinkage of seepage channels, reconstruction of seepage channels, dynamic equilibrium between slight expansion and shrinkage, and persistence of the impervious effect. After the first and second stages have been fully developed, the preliminary impervious conditions are met; after full development of the fourth stage, the gangue backfill materials reach an impervious state.

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Data availability

The data and materials that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author on request.

Abbreviations

E :

The elastic modulus, (GPa)

μ :

The poisson’s ratio.

σ c :

Uniaxial compressive strength, (MPa)

\({G}_{P}\) :

The gradient of pore pressures, (Pa/m)

\({p}_{1}\) :

The pore pressures at the inlet of seepage, (Pa)

\({p}_{2}\) :

The pore pressures at the outlet of seepage, (Pa)

h :

The instantaneous height of the specimen, (m)

k :

The permeability, (m2)

β :

The non-Darcian flow factor, (m−1)

\({\mu }{\prime}\) :

The coefficient of viscosity, (Pa·s)

v :

The seepage rate, (m/s)

ρ :

The density of a penetrant, (kg/m3)

\({\phi }_{h}\) :

The void ratio when the sample height is h, (%)

\({V}_{k}\) :

The total void volume of the sample with the height h, (m3)

\({V}_{h}\) :

The total packing volume of the sample with the height h, (m3)

\({V}_{0}\) :

The volume of gangue blocks after excluding the void volume, (m3)

\({m}_{s}\) :

The mass of the sample, (kg)

\({\rho }_{s}\) :

The mass density of the sample, (kg/m3)

R :

The radius of the permeameter, (m)

\({h}_{0}\) :

The initial height of the gangue sample before compression, (m)

∆h :

The compression amount when the sample is compressed to height h, (m)

\({h}_{c}\) :

The mining height, (m)

\({H}_{z}\) :

The roof subsidence of gobs, (m)

\({h}_{t}\) :

The roof subsidence before backfilling, (m)

\({h}_{q}\) :

The gap between the backfilling body and the roof, (m)

η :

The compaction rate of the backfilling body, (%)

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (grant number 51725403]; the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 52004271); the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (grant number 2021M693417); the Jiangsu Postdoctoral Research Funding Program (grant number 2021K039A); the Postgraduate Research & Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province (KYCX22_2611) and the Graduate Innovation Program of China University of Mining and Technology (grant number 2022WLKXJ005).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Coal Resources and Safe Mining, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, China

    Yuming Guo, Jixiong Zhang, Meng Li, Lihua Wang & Zejun Li

  2. School of Mines, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, China

    Yuming Guo, Jixiong Zhang, Meng Li, Lihua Wang & Zejun Li

Authors
  1. Yuming Guo
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  2. Jixiong Zhang
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  3. Meng Li
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  4. Lihua Wang
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  5. Zejun Li
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Contributions

All the authors contributed to the study conception and design. Yuming Guo: laboratory experiments, data curation, and writing—original draft. Jixiong Zhang: funding acquisition, methodology, supervision, and writing—review and editing. Meng Li: funding acquisition, methodology, data curation, and writing—original draft. Lihua Wang: methodology, data curation, and validation. Zejun Li: methodology, and data curation. All the authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lihua Wang.

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Guo, Y., Zhang, J., Li, M. et al. Preventing water inrush hazards in coal mines by coal gangue backfilling in gobs: influences of the particle size and stress on seepage characteristics. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 104374–104387 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-29775-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-29775-0

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