Response Characteristics of Electric Potential and Its Relationship with Dynamic Disaster during Mining Activities: A Case Study in Xuehu Coal Mine, China

Yue Niu; Zhonghui Li; Enyuan Wang; Tiancheng Shan; Heng Wang; Shilong Xu; Wenyang Sun; Guanteng Wang; Xingzhuo Xue; Junqi Liu

doi:10.3390/ijerph19158949

Response Characteristics of Electric Potential and Its Relationship with Dynamic Disaster during Mining Activities: A Case Study in Xuehu Coal Mine, China

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Jul 23;19(15):8949. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19158949.

Authors

Yue Niu^{1

2

3

4}, Zhonghui Li^{2

4

5}, Enyuan Wang^{2

4}, Tiancheng Shan^{2

4}, Heng Wang^{2

4}, Shilong Xu^{2

4}, Wenyang Sun^{2

4}, Guanteng Wang^{2

4}, Xingzhuo Xue^{2

4}, Junqi Liu^{2

4}

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory for GeoMechanics and Deep Underground Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China.
² Key Laboratory of Gas and Fire Control for Coal Mines, Ministry of Education, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China.
³ School of Mechanics and Civil Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China.
⁴ School of Safety Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China.
⁵ National Engineering Research Center for Coal Gas Control, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China.

Abstract

Across the world, coal resource is widely utilized in industrial production. During coal mining activities, dynamic disasters may be induced, such as coal and gas outbursts, or rock burst, resulting in serious accidents or disasters. Previous studies have shown that electric potential (EP) signals can be produced during the deformation and fracture process of coal and rock mass under load. The abnormal response characteristics of EP can reveal the damage evolution and failure feather of coal mass. In this paper, the response characteristics of EP signals are analyzed with high gas testing during mining activities within deep coal seams, and the relationship between the EP response and outburst disaster hazard is studied. The results show that: (1) Under the comprehensive action of mining stress and gas effect, the coal mass was damaged and fractured, which can produce abundant EP signals, while the temporal EP response characteristics can reflect the loading state and damage evolution process inside the coal seam. (2) When coal cannon and a sudden increase of gas concentration occurred in the coal mass, the EP signal was at a high level and fluctuated violently. This can be regarded as precursory information for an outburst risk, which was verified by monitoring the results of mining stress and electromagnetic radiation (EMR). (3) Based on the unilateral inversion imaging method, EP spatial distribution law was studied and abnormal zones with high-value were identified. The zone is close to, or coincident with, the high value interval of EMR intensity and count indexes, which revealed the distribution characteristics of coal damage localization. Hence, EP monitoring results can forecast precursor information of outburst hazards temporally, and identify local zones with outburst hazard spatially. This study provides a new idea and application basis for using the EP method to monitor and prevent coal and rock dynamic disaster hazards in the field.

Keywords: deep coal seam; dynamic disaster; electric potential response; mining activities; safety monitor.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Coal
Coal Mining*
Disasters*
Electricity
Electromagnetic Radiation

Substances

Coal

Grants and funding

This work is supported by the National Science Foundation for Young Scientists of Jiangsu Province (BK20210504), National Natural Science Foundation of China, China (52104234, 51934007, 52074280), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2021QN1104).