Abstract
The continuous miner method is the emerging extraction technology for mining the deep-seated coal seams with low investment. This technology is used for the development and depillaring of the pillars/panels in the form of slices and ribs. During the depillaring of coal pillars, the stress and strain development will be higher on the workings, and the ribs and snooks deteriorate and may fail after just extraction. This condition of the workings depends on the line of extraction, either a diagonal line or a straight line. Field experience also concludes that a straight line along a dip-rise direction will be a favorable method compared to diagonal line extraction since it ensures fast rate of extraction. It is an imperative that the optimum line of extraction technique must be required to create safe workings and extract the coal panels safely. Hence, in this study, three emerging lines of extraction techniques, such as diagonal line, straight line along strike, and dip-rise directions, are taken for detailed stability analysis considering three different stages in each technique. Results of numerical investigation also concluded that the straight line along dip-rise extraction technique may have more stability than other techniques. Therefore, this technique is considered optimal to exploit the coal from a deeper depth. In addition, a sensitivity analysis is undertaken by varying mining depth, working stages, and mining height, and a continuous miner stability index is developed to forecast the stability of the underground workings of similar geo-mining conditions using statistical techniques.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Chawla S, Jaiswal A, Shrivastava BK (2021) Design of remnant pillar in mechanized depillaring using continuous miner. J Mines, Metals Fuels 2:45–52
Chawla S, Jaiswal A, Shrivastava BK (2018) Design of snook in depillaring panel using continuous miner. J Inst Eng India Ser D 99(1):39–49
Deb D, Verma AK (2016) Fundamentals and applications of rock mechanics. PHI publishers, New Delhi, pp 234–235
Islavath SR (2019) Stability of continuous miner workings using numerical modelling approach. J Mines, Metals Fuels 8:360–365
Islavath SR, Deb D, Kumar H (2016) Numerical analysis of a longwall mining cycle and development of a composite longwall index. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 89:43–54
Kumar A, Kumar D, Singh AK, Ram S, Kumar R, Gautam A, Singh R, Singh AK (2019) Roof sagging limit in an early warning system for safe coal pillar extraction. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 123(104131):1–10
Kumar RB and Shankar RK. Underground coal mining in india – technological options and challenges ahead. National Seminar on Underground Mining Organized by SCCL, Telangana. 17–28.
Kushwaha A, Tewari S, Sinha A (2010) Empirical approach for designing of support system in mechanized coal pillar mining. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 47:1063–1078
Mandal PK, Das AJ, Kumar N, Bhattacharjee R, Tewari S, Kushwaha A (2018) Assessment of roof convergence during driving roadways in underground coal mines by continuous miner. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 108:169–178
Modi J, Bharti S, Kant R (2017) Applicability of continuous miner in room and pillar mining system: higher production and productivity with safety. International Conference on Deep Excavation, Energy Resource and Production, held by IIT Kharagpur, India. 150:1-11
Pankaj D, Sunil D, Vishal K, Siddharth S (2018) Coal pillar extraction by continuous miner using fish and tail method – a case study. Int J Mech Product Eng 6(2):45–49
Raghavan V, Ariff S, Paul PK (2014) Optimum utilisation of continuous miner for improving production in underground coal mines. Int J Sci Res Publ 4(10):1–10
Ram S, Kumar D, Singh AK, Kumar A, Singh R (2017) Field and numerical modelling studies for an efficient placement of roof bolts as breaker line support. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 93:152–162
Reddy KN, Sundaram MSG, Kanakaiah M (2019) Straight line of extraction of a thick seam with b&p method deploying continuous miner (CM) technology: a case study of VK-7 incline. National Conference on Recent Advances in Mining Technology (RAMT), held by AIT Bangalore, India
Sabapathy R, Paul PS, Mandal PK (2019) Evaluation of bump-proneness of underground coal mines using burst energy coefficient. Arab J Geosci 2:579
Saharan MR, Palit PK, Kasaraneni RR (2012) Designing coal mine development galleries for room and pillar mining for continuous miner operations - Indian experience. 12th Coal operators conference organized by University of Wollongong and Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. 154–162
Singh AK, Kumar A, Kumar D, Singh R, Ram S, Kumar R, Singh AK (2020) Coal pillar extraction under weak roof. Mining, Metallur Explor 37:1451–1459
Singh R, Kumar A, Singh AK, Coggan J, Ram S (2016) Rib/snook design in mechanized depillaring of rectangular/square pillars. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 84:119–129
Singh R, Mandal PK, Singh AK, Kumar R, Sinha A (2011) Coal pillar extraction at deep cover: with special reference to Indian coal fields. Int J Coal Geol 86:276–288
Sinha RK, Jawed M, Sengupta S (2019) An approach for support design in depillaring panels of coal mines. Arab J Geosci 12:666
Vijaya Rao Ch, Veera Swamy H (2010) Extraction of developed pillars by yield pillar non-caving method with continuous miner technology at VK 7 incline, SCCL – a case study. National Seminar on Underground Mining Organized by SCCL, Telangana, pp 102–111
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) management for according the permission to visit the mines and collect the necessary data for conducting this study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Islavath, S.R., Bodakunta, S. Estimation of Optimum Line of Extraction for Continuous Miner Workings and Development of Continuous Miner Stability Index (CMSI) using 3D Numerical Modeling and Statistical Approach. Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration 39, 1149–1169 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42461-022-00602-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42461-022-00602-3