Role of Tectonic Coal in Coal and Gas Outburst Behavior During Coal Mining

Coal and gas outbursts are small-scale geological disasters controlled by tectonic movement, and tectonic coal is widespread in outburst zones. In this study, we compare tectonic and intact coal specimens to examine the basic properties of tectonic coal. We estimate the different energies and limits of the crushing work ratio of coal from five typical outburst cases using on-site outburst data, and discuss the relationship between outbursts and tectonic coal. The results show that tectonic coal is a product of tectonic movement and its original primary structure is destroyed during the tectonic process. Compared with intact coal, tectonic coal shows low strength properties and a crushing work ratio of 22.11 J/m2. The specific surface area and total pore volume of the minipores, mesopores, and macropores of the coal strongly increase under conditions of intense tectonism, which indicates that tectonic coal has a very high capacity for rapid initial gas desorption. An adequate supply of gas is required to transport outburst coal, such that the existence of coal particles smaller than the critical diameter is important. Our calculations indicate that the crushing work ratio of coal from the five outburst case ranges from 22.19 to 78.67 J/m2. Only the crushing work ratio of tectonic coal satisfies the requirement for these cases. Therefore, the properties of the tectonic coal and crushing work ratio for the five cases indicate that the widespread occurrence of tectonic coal plays a crucial role in outbursts.