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Theory and Technology of the Intelligent Roadway Development in Coal Mining

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "H3: Fossil".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 October 2023) | Viewed by 7223

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Mines, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China
Interests: intelligent roadway development; ground control in mining-damaged roadway

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Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Mining Disaster Prevention and Control, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, China
Interests: ground control of coal mine roadways; rock mechanics in mining

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Guest Editor
College of Energy Engineering, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi'an 710054, China
Interests: intelligent perception of rock mass properties in mining; intelligent roadway development; ground control of coal-mine roadways

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The demand in coal production began surging in 2021 when international tensions changed the landscape of global energy in profound ways. This revitalization of coal consumption is forcing mining companies to boost production. In China, approximately 90% coal is extracted by underground mining, and the roadway development rates of underground coal mines fail to keep up with modern longwall systems and are unlikely to sustain further improvements in longwall productivity in the future. Intelligent roadway development is a step-change improvement to current practices and equipment, which increases the development rate and removes operators from dangerous work conditions.

The key challenges for intelligent roadway development include driving environment recognition, intelligent monitoring technology, rapid support technology, intelligent rock mechanics, the prediction of the maximum length of unsupported span, temporary support in driving faces, efficient detection of geological anomalies, recognition of the coal–rock interface, self-adaptive cutting, and the autonomous navigation of roadheaders. There are theoretical and technical barriers related to these challenges that can be overcome with the help of researchers.

This Special Issue aims to publish research and review articles on the theory and technology of intelligent roadway developments in coal mining. Its focus will be on transforming existing roadway development practices into intelligent, high-efficiency, and high-security systems that pave the way to achieving intelligent coal mining.

The topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Intelligent perception and recognition of driving environment;
  • Intelligent monitoring technology and digitalization of mining-induced stress;
  • Principles and technology of intelligent detection by using drilling data;
  • Intelligent rock mechanics and applications;
  • Mechanism and technology of temporary support in roadway developments;
  • Theory and technology of surrounding rock control in roadway developments;
  • Theory and technology of efficiency promotion in intelligent roadway developments;
  • Advanced theory and technology of the autonomous navigation of roadheaders;
  • Key theory and technology of the application of robot system in roadway developments.

Prof. Dr. Jiaguang Kan
Prof. Dr. Lishuai Jiang
Prof. Dr. Sen Yang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • intelligent roadway development
  • development rate
  • low-density roof bolting
  • surrounding rock control
  • temporary support
  • intelligent navigation
  • intelligent positioning
  • bolter -miner
  • collaborative process
  • self-adaptive cutting

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 6800 KiB  
Article
Analysis of Roof Stability of Coal Roadway Heading Face
by Chao Su, Pengfei Jiang, Peilin Gong, Chang Liu, Peng Li and Yuedong Liu
Energies 2022, 15(20), 7588; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15207588 - 14 Oct 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1073
Abstract
One of the challenges that urgently needs to be addressed, both in current times and in the future, is to improve the heading speed of coal roadways. The roof instability of the heading face is the main factor restricting the rapid heading of [...] Read more.
One of the challenges that urgently needs to be addressed, both in current times and in the future, is to improve the heading speed of coal roadways. The roof instability of the heading face is the main factor restricting the rapid heading of coal roadways. Based on the theory of thin plate, a mechanical model of the roof in the heading face is established, the distribution law of deflection, stress, and internal force is discussed, and the supporting principle of the roof is clarified. Through a Flac3D numerical simulation, the main influencing factors of roof stability in the heading face are analyzed, including ground stress, surrounding rock strength, roadway section, unsupported distance, etc., and the regression analysis of each factor is carried out by evaluating the amount of roof subsidence. The results show that the maximum tensile stress and the corresponding bending moment of the roof appear at the fixed supported edge, and the maximum compressive stress and the maximum value of the corresponding bending moment appear at the center of the roof slightly close to the simply supported edge. In the on-site construction process, the position close to the fixed supported edge needs to be supported first. The roof subsidence has a positive exponential relationship with the stress level, a negative exponential relationship with the surrounding rock strength, a quadratic functional relationship with the roadway section, and a logarithmic relationship with the unsupported distance. In fractional support, the initial partial support can timely reduce the roof span and partially recover the confining pressure. Under certain geological and production conditions, the use of fractional support can not only effectively maintain the stability of the roadway but also speed up the heading speed. According to the research results, it is determined that in the auxiliary transportation roadway of the Caojiatan Coal Mine, the 122,110 working face adopts the fractional support model, the maximum roof subsidence is 18 mm, the roof is stable, and the monthly progress is more than 1000 m, which significantly improves the roadway heading speed. Full article
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16 pages, 3791 KiB  
Article
Strain-Sensing Mechanism and Axial Stress Response Characterization of Bolt Based on Fiber Bragg Grating Sensing
by Gaochuan Guo, Dingding Zhang, Yanyan Duan, Guihua Zhang and Jing Chai
Energies 2022, 15(17), 6384; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15176384 - 1 Sep 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1063
Abstract
The anchoring quality of bolts is related to roadway safety and the surrounding rock stability. Due to the limitations of conventional monitoring methods in capturing strain, there still exists a gap in the real-time perception of the mechanical properties of bolts at the [...] Read more.
The anchoring quality of bolts is related to roadway safety and the surrounding rock stability. Due to the limitations of conventional monitoring methods in capturing strain, there still exists a gap in the real-time perception of the mechanical properties of bolts at the micro-scale. This paper proposes a new approach to detecting bolts’ anchoring qualities based on the fiber Bragg grating sensing principle. Moreover, it studies the strain transmission mechanism between the surface-bonded fiber Bragg grating and the bolt. A fiber-optic monitoring test platform of anchor bolt anchoring quality is built. The full-length anchor bolt’s strain evolution law and axial force distribution characteristics are studied during the pull-out test. The study results have shown that the theoretical value of the fiber strain transfer coefficient can be used to calculate the strain of the bolt. The bolt pull-out test verified the accuracy of using the fiber Bragg grating bolt axial force characterization equation to estimate the bolt stress. On the other hand, the correlation between the bolt axial force and the fiber Bragg grating monitoring value follows an exponential pattern. This study provides an important basis for improving the understanding of a bolt anchoring mechanism and the stability control of a roadway’s surrounding rock. Full article
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16 pages, 10194 KiB  
Article
Investigation of the Effectiveness of a New Backfilling Method: “Multi-Arch Pier-Column”
by Guangzheng Xu, Kegong Fan, Xuehui Li, Xinshuai Shi, Jianguo Ning, Jun Wang, Guoqing Sun and Jingyu Chang
Energies 2022, 15(16), 5845; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15165845 - 11 Aug 2022
Viewed by 1000
Abstract
Owing to the shortcomings of blindness and inaccuracy when backfilling in goafs and based on the key stratum theory, we propose the “multi-arch pier-column” backfilling method. This method involves drilling holes at specific locations on the surface to inject filling and slurry materials [...] Read more.
Owing to the shortcomings of blindness and inaccuracy when backfilling in goafs and based on the key stratum theory, we propose the “multi-arch pier-column” backfilling method. This method involves drilling holes at specific locations on the surface to inject filling and slurry materials into the goaf and separation area under the key stratum. This allows the broken gangue to be cemented to form a stone body, to improve its overall strength. This process, along with filling in the separation area under the key stratum, ensures that the key stratum does not break, forming a joint medium of “separation area filling body + backfilled pier-columns + key stratum + coal column”, which prevents new subsidence on the surface layer. Using the Gaojialiang coal mine as an example, the effects of the proposed method on controlling surface subsidence were determined using a numerical simulation based on FLAC3D simulation software. The results indicate that this method can effectively control the key stratum and ensure that the surface subsidence is within a safe range. The multi-arch pier-column backfilling method utilises the self-bearing capacity of the overburden structure and greatly reduces the backfilling workload and the cost of backfilling for controlling surface subsidence. At present, the multi-arch pier-column system of the new backfill method is an unexplored and new area of research. Full article
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13 pages, 3944 KiB  
Article
Mechanism Analysis of Delayed Water Inrush from Karst Collapse Column during Roadway Excavation Based on Seepage Transition Theory: A Case Study in PanEr Coal Mine
by Yu Liu, Jingzhong Zhu, Qimeng Liu, Anying Yuan, Shifang He and Yisheng Bai
Energies 2022, 15(14), 4987; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15144987 - 7 Jul 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1240
Abstract
Water inrush disaster is one of the major disasters affecting the production safety of coal mines following roof caving, fire, gas outburst, and dust explosion disasters. It is urgent to reveal the water inrush mechanism and take effective measures to prevent the disasters. [...] Read more.
Water inrush disaster is one of the major disasters affecting the production safety of coal mines following roof caving, fire, gas outburst, and dust explosion disasters. It is urgent to reveal the water inrush mechanism and take effective measures to prevent the disasters. More than 80% of water inrush accidents occur around geological structural zones such as faults and karst collapse columns (KCCs). The water inrush events from KCCs caused huge economic losses and heavy casualties, and the water inrush process often shows certain hysteresis characteristics. Taking the water inrush disaster from a KCC during roadway excavation in PanEr Coal Mine of Huainan Mining Area as the case study, the delayed inrush mechanism of KCC was analyzed from the aspects of floor failure, KCC activation, seepage transition, and water inrush development characteristics. The results show that the rock mechanical properties and the excavation depth are the main factors affecting the floor failure characteristics. The seepage transformation from pore flow to fracture flow and pipeline flow, with the change in internal composition structure, is the internal mechanism of the delayed water inrush from KCC. The research is of great significance for the prediction and prevention of water inrush disasters from KCCs. Full article
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14 pages, 5670 KiB  
Article
Research on Stress Distribution Regularity and Support Optimization of an “Umbrella” Coal Pillar in a Gob-Side Roadway Based on Irregular Gob
by Yongjie Yang, Yang Zhang and Gang Huang
Energies 2022, 15(11), 3932; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15113932 - 26 May 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1034
Abstract
Aiming at the phenomenon of a large amount of roof subsidence and rib caving in the gob-side roadway under the special “umbrella” coal pillar in isolated panel No. 325 of Yangcun Coal Mine, the stress distribution regularity of the gob-side roadway under a [...] Read more.
Aiming at the phenomenon of a large amount of roof subsidence and rib caving in the gob-side roadway under the special “umbrella” coal pillar in isolated panel No. 325 of Yangcun Coal Mine, the stress distribution regularity of the gob-side roadway under a “umbrella” coal pillar was studied in detail by establishing mathematical models, theoretical analysis, and numerical simulations. The results show that the following: (1) The stress distribution regularity of the irregular coal pillar is actually the mechanical structure of irregular gob. (2) The abutment pressure of the gob is always distributed vertically along the edge of the gob. When the edge of the gob intersects diagonally with the gob roadway, the stress distribution of the surrounding rock of the roadway cannot be calculated only by the width of the coal pillar—the angle between the edge of the gob and the roadway should also be considered. (3) The abutment pressure at each cusp position in irregular gob extends in the opposite direction of the bisection cusp line, which may lead to peak stress concentration area in gob roadways with solid coal on both sides, and even roof caving and sidewall deviation disasters. Full article
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