Vulnerability assessment of water bursting from Ordovician limestone into coal mines of China

No. 10 coal seam in Wangjialing Coal Mine is threatened with floor water bursting from aquifers underlying the coal seam. A geographic information system (GIS)-based analytic hierarchy process (AHP) vulnerability index method was used to assess the floor water bursting. Based on detailed analysis of the geological and hydrogeological conditions of the mine, eight main factors were determined that control the No. 10 coal seam floor water bursting from the karstified Ordovician limestone. Subsequent to acquisition and normalization of the main controlling factor data, the sub-thematic layers of each dominating factor and the overlay layer were established using GIS for the eight factors. AHP was used to determine the weight of each main controlling factor. The GIS-based AHP vulnerable evaluation model resulted in coal floor water bursting vulnerability zoning scheme for the coal mine, which is used for taking necessary control measures to avoid water bursting.