Safe mining measures for coal seam with water-resisting clay layer

Aquifer breakage is easy to occur in the mining process of shallow coal seam. In this study, the safe water protection mining of shallow coal seam in Western China was studied. The numerical model of coal seam was established by FLAAC3D software. Coal seam mining started after two working conditions, fully caving mining and pillar support mining, were established. The damage of coal seam was analyzed by software. The results showed that there were many shear cracks in fully caving mining, and finally water flowing fractures appeared. In pillar supported mining, there were many tension cracks above the pillar and in the water-resisting clay layer, and the maximum subsidence value of the surface increased with the advance of the working face. Some measures were put forward to ensure the safe water protection exploitation according to the experimental results, which provides some theoretical supports for realization of the win-win situation of coal resources exploitation and water resources protection in the western region. © 2019 GDMB Gesellschaft fur Bergbau, Metallurgie, Rohstoff- und Umwelttechnik e.V.. All rights reserved.