Discrete modeling of a longwall coal mine gob for CFD simulation

One area of concern in longwall coal mines is the active gob directly behind the longwall face, where high concentrations of methane are likely to accumulate and active roof caving occurs. Using computational fluid dynamics(CFD) to simulate gas flows in and through the gob, most researchers have represented the entire gob as a porous medium governed by Darcy’s law. However, Darcy-type porous flow may not be applicable for the highly porous and unconsolidated fringes of the gob. In addition, porous medium models do not allow for representative combustion modeling to simulate in-gob ignition and flame propagation. This study presents a hybrid approach to modeling the gob using CFD: the outer part of the gob is modeled as discrete objects that simulate coarse rock rubble, while the gob center is modeled as a porous medium.