Prevention of water and quicksand inrush during extracting contiguous coal seams under the lowermost aquifer in the unconsolidated Cenozoic alluvium—a case study

Abstract

Extracting the contiguous coal seams under the lowermost aquifer in the unconsolidated Cenozoic alluvium is apt to water and quicksand inrush. By using a series of investigation methods including empirical formulas, numerical simulation, theoretical analysis, etc., the study focused on the fracture and the excess pore water pressure in the overlying strata in the process of extracting no. 8 coal seam firstly and no. 9 coal seam (under no. 8 coal seam) subsequently in no. 8102 working face of Luling coal mine in the north of Anhui Province of China. When no. 8 coal seam was extracted, the water-conducting fractured zone penetrated into the lowermost aquifer and rapid dissipation of excess pore water pressure above the gob occurred, accompanied by relatively high seepage hydraulic gradient over the headgate and the tailgate. When no. 9 coal seam was extracted, failure did not obviously extend upwards and the excess pore water pressure decreased slowly and a relatively high seepage hydraulic gradient transferred downwards from the headgate to the tailgate in the inclined profile. The safe water head (H _s) in the lowermost aquifer was confirmed to 15.6 m. Therefore, water and quicksand inrush was avoided effectively in the process of extracting the contiguous coal seams by dewatering, controlling mining height, and laying double resistance nets in the working face.