A practical application of photogrammetry to performing rib characterization measurements in an underground coal mine using a DSLR camera

Understanding coal mine rib behavior is important for inferring pillar loading conditions as well as ensuring the safety of miners who are regularly exposed to ribs. Due to the variability in the geometry of underground openings and ground behavior, point measurements often fail to capture the true movement of mine workings. Photogrammetry is a potentially fast, cheap, and precise supplemental measurement tool in comparison to extensometers, tape measures, or laser range meters, but its application in underground coal has been limited. The practical use of photogrammetry was tested at the Safety Research Coal Mine, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health(NIOSH). A commercially available, digital single-lens reflex(DSLR) camera was used to perform the photogrammetric surveys for the experiment. Several experiments were performed using different lighting conditions, distances to subject,camera settings, and photograph overlaps, with results summarized as follows: the lighting method was found to be insignificant if the scene was appropriately illuminated. It was found that the distance to the subject has a minimal impact on result accuracy, and that camera settings have a significant impact on the photogrammetric quality of images. An increasing photograph resolution was preferable when measuring plane orientations; otherwise a high point cloud density would likely be excessive. Focal ratio(F-stop) changes affect the depth of field and image quality in situations where multiple angles are necessary to survey cleat orientations. Photograph overlap is very important to proper three-dimensional reconstruction, and at least 60% overlap between photograph pairs is ideal to avoid unnecessary post-processing. The suggestions and guidelines proposed are designed to increase the quality of photogrammetry inputs and outputs as well as minimize processing time, and serve as a starting point for an underground coal photogrammetry study.     

Unanticipated multiple seam stresses from pillar systems behaving as pseudo gob–case histories

Underground coal mining in the U.S. is conducted in numerous regions where previous workings exist above and/or below an actively mined seam. Miners know that overlying or underlying fully extracted coal areas, also known as gob regions, can result in abutment stresses that affect the active mining. If there was no full extraction, and the past mining consists entirely of intact pillars, the stresses on the active seam are usually minimal. However, experience has shown that in some situations there has been sufficient yielding in overlying or underlying pillar systems to cause stress transfer to the adjoining larger pillars or barriers, which in turn, transfer significant stresses onto the workings of the active seam. In other words, the overlying or underlying pillar system behaves as a ‘‘pseudo gob." The presence of a pseudo gob is often unexpected, and the consequences can be severe. This paper presents several case histories, summarized briefly below, that illustrate pseudo gob phenomenon:(1) pillar rib degradation at a West Virginia mine at 335 m depth that contributed to a rib roll fatality,(2) pillar rib deterioration at a Western Kentucky mine at 175 m depth that required pillar size adjustment and installation of supplemental bolting,(3) roof deterioration at an eastern Kentucky mine at 400 m depth that stopped mine advance and required redirecting the section development,(4) coal burst on development at an eastern Kentucky mine at 520 m depth that had no nearby pillar recovery, and(5) coal burst on development at a West Virginia mine at the relatively shallow depth of 335 m that also had no nearby pillar recovery. The paper provides guidance so that when an operation encounters a potential pseudo gob stress interaction the hazard can be mitigated based on an understanding of the mechanism encountered.     

A review of the geomechanics aspects of a double fatality coal burst at Austar Colliery in NSW,Australia in April 2014

A coal burst occurred on 15 April, 2014 at the Austar Coal Mine, located west of Newcastle, NSW,Australia. The burst resulted in fatal injuries to two men working as part of the mining crew at the development face. At the time, a continuous miner was being used to mine a longwall development gate road through heavily structured coal, at a depth of approximately 550 m. A number of pre-cursor bumps had occurred on previous shifts, emanating from the coal ribs of the roadway, in proximity to the coal face.This paper reviews the geological, geotechnical and mining conditions and circumstances leading up to the coal burst event; and presents and discusses the available evidence and possible interpretations relating to the geomechanical behaviour mechanisms that may have been critical factors in this incident. The paper also discusses some key technical and operational considerations of ground support systems and mining practices and strategies needed for operating in such conditions in the future.     

Vertical load capacities of roof truss cross members

Trusses used for roof support in coal mines are constructed of two grouted bolts installed at opposing forty-five degree angles into the roof and a cross member that ties the angled bolts together. The load on the cross member is vertical, which is transverse to the longitudinal axis, and therefore the cross member is loaded in the weakest direction. Laboratory tests were conducted to determine the vertical load capacity and deflection of three different types of cross members. Single-point load tests, with the load applied in the center of the specimen and double-point load tests, with a span of 2.4 m, were conducted. For the single-point load configuration, the yield of the 25 mm solid bar cross member was nominally 98 kN of vertical load, achieved at 42 cm of deflection. For cable cross members, yield was not achieved even after 45 cm of deflection. Peak vertical loads were about 89 kN for 17 mm cables and67 kN for the 15 mm cables. For the double-point load configurations, the 25 mm solid bar cross members yielded at 150 kN of vertical load and 25 cm of deflection. At 25 cm of deflection individual cable strands started breaking at 133 and 111 kN of vertical load for the 17 and 15 mm cable cross members respectively.     

Characteristics of coal sludge slurry prepared by a wet-grinding process

Coal sludge slurry(CSS) is an alternative fuel and a potential competitive method for sludge reduction.Based on the researches of coal water slurry, we studied CSSs by using a wet-grinding process with different types of regional municipal sludge(sludge) in an orthogonal experiment. The sludge type,sludge mixing proportion, dosage of dispersant, and grinding time were tested in this study. The results show that water content and its occurrence characteristics in the sludge have primary hindering influences on slurry ability. The range of fixed-viscosity concentrations with raw wet sludge is from 50.78%to 44.40%(by weight), while the range is from 53.35% to 51.51%(by weight) with dry sludge. All of the CSSs exhibit shear-thinning behaviors with different variation trends, especially the CSSs with more than 15%(by weight) raw wet sludge in it. Adding the same proportion of raw wet sludge increases the thixotropic properties of CSSs and the highest area of thixotropy loop is 3065 Pa/s, while the highest value of dry sludge is 1798 Pa/s. Hydrophilic group plays an important role in adsorbing water and building three-dimension networks with other particles, which is the main reason for CSS properties.Therefore, the mechanism can be used to find the way for making high quality CSS.     

Deformation transition of intact coal induced by gas injection

Gas migration in coal bed is a multiple-physical process, of which not only includes gas desorption/diffusion through coal matrix and gas Darcy flow through the cleat system, but also results in deform...     

省煤器联箱接管座与管排焊接接头泄漏原因分析

通过宏观分析、化学组成分析、金相分析、扫描电镜分析等方法,对省煤器联箱接管座与管排焊接接头泄漏原因进行了分析。结果表明,焊接管化学成分、换算强度均符合GB5310—2008标准要求。熔合区、过热区晶粒组织粗大,甚至形成魏氏组织,使这一区域性能弱化。省煤器联箱接管座与管排焊接接头穿孔是因应力作用下在熔合区、过热区薄弱处首先产生微裂纹,启裂后虽未形成贯穿裂纹,但微裂纹导致缝隙腐蚀,缝隙腐蚀加速裂纹由内向外深化和扩展直至穿孔,产生泄漏。     

粉煤燃烧器式加热炉模糊控制

对粉煤燃烧器式加热炉炉温控制采用了模糊控制系统.本系统具有实现控制图象的动态显示功能,能够保护控制系统和提供帮助.模拟结果表明控制效果良好.     

TW3M煤气发生炉的节能降耗技术改造与管理改进

针对钢管热处理加热用TW3M煤气发生炉存在的煤气量达不到设计要求、有气固相盲区、设备易损坏、煤耗和水耗高、管理脱节、管理制度不到位等问题,江苏诚德钢管股份有限公司通过实施一系列节能降耗技术改造并加强了生产管理,基本上解决了所存在的问题,使煤气产量提高了46.7%,煤气质量有了较大的提高,煤气发生炉的维修周期从3～6个月延长到2～3年,生产成本大幅度降低。     

煤基聚苯胺防腐蚀性能的研究

采用加速浸泡和电化学测试方法，研究了煤基聚苯胺(CPANi)用于防腐蚀涂料中对碳钢的保护性能和效果。结果表明，煤基聚苯胺对涂料的性能没有太大的影响，用于涂料中对基体金属(碳钢)具有明显的阳极保护作用。