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A New Method for Determining the Sealing Depth of Extraction Borehole Based on the Constant-Pressure Gas Injection and its Applications

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Abstract

Coalbed methane is a risk of coal mining safety while being an important energy source, and gas extraction is the most effective treatment method. However, roadway and borehole surrounding rock fracture lead to air leakage and thus reduce gas extraction efficiency. To determinate the surrounding rock fracture zone and improve the borehole sealing effect, this work proposed a new method based on constant-pressure gas injection. The feasibility of this method is validated by combining theoretical analysis, numerical simulation and field tests. Results showed that: (1) as the drilling depth grew from 5 to 13 m, the injected-gas flow rate dropped quickly from 41.2 to 10.0 L/min, and then fluctuated slightly to 11.7 L/min, obtaining the minimum flow rate at 9 m, which indicated that the width of the roadway surrounding rock fracture zone was 9 m. (2) The mathematical model of coal stress, permeability and damage evolution were built to describe the gas flow during the gas injection in different borehole depths. The numerical simulation reflects that the injected gas mainly leaks through walls of the roadway rather than along the borehole, with the former being 6.5 times of the latter. (3) The gas extraction concentration increased from about 20% to more than 30% when the sealing depth grew from 8 to 10 m, which indicated the sealing depth of gas extraction boreholes shall be slightly larger than 9 m. This proves that the constant-pressure gas injection method can offer effective references in determining the roadway surrounding rock fracture zone and gas extraction boreholes sealing depth.

Highlights

  • A new method for determining the sealing depth based on the constant-pressure gas injection was proposed.

  • The mathematical model of coal stress, permeability and damage evolution was built.

  • The leakage characteristics during gas injection in borehole were investigated.

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Acknowledgements

This project is supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Henan(202300410182), National Natural Science Foundation of China(51974109, 52004083, 52174073), the Scientific and Technological Projects of Henan Province (202102310220), the Plan of Key Scientific Research Projects of Colleges and Universities in Henan Province (20A620001).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory Cultivation Base for Gas Geology and Gas Control, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo, 454000, China

    Banghua Yao, Shuai Yao, Jianping Wei, Zhihui Wen, Yong Liu & Leilei Si

  2. School of Safety Science and Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo, 454000, China

    Banghua Yao, Shuai Yao, Jianping Wei, Zhihui Wen, Yong Liu & Leilei Si

  3. Collaborative Innovation Center of Coal Work Safety and Clean High Efficiency Utilization, Jiaozuo, 454000, China

    Banghua Yao & Jianping Wei

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  1. Banghua Yao
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  2. Shuai Yao
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  4. Zhihui Wen
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  5. Yong Liu
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Correspondence to Leilei Si.

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Yao, B., Yao, S., Wei, J. et al. A New Method for Determining the Sealing Depth of Extraction Borehole Based on the Constant-Pressure Gas Injection and its Applications. Rock Mech Rock Eng 55, 3703–3717 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-022-02844-5

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