Modeling and simulation of strata movement for protective seam mining with large interburden

Based on simulated material scale modeling and numerical simulation, the protective seam mining method was conducted at one coal mine. After extracting the No.15 seam, the overlying strata movement and the deformation of the No.9–10 protected seam were studied. The experiment results show that it is feasible to destress the protected seams with large interburden thickness. When the face had advanced 200 m from the setup room, the No.9–10 seam was fully destressed, resulting in easy gas drainage in the destressed zone. Recommendations on mining sequence of multiple seams mining in the same coal areas were made. Supported by Ministry of Education Doctoral Foundation (20070460001) and Natural Science Foundation of Henan Province (0623021400)