Security in gas discharge while unsealing a closed stope

Given the problem of harmful gas discharge in unsealing coal mining faces, we numerically simulated the process of change of gas flows and movements. We have pointed out that, at the moment of unsealing a closed stope, the gas discharge is naturally divided into two parts, i.e., the discharge of gas in the working face and that in the goaf, because of the difference in the spatial medium. The absolute volume of gas discharged has a tendency to decrease from its initial peak value to a final stable value. The rate of decrease and the time needed to reach a stable discharge are related to the scale of the mining stope. The discharge of gas from the working face is closely related to the amount of air distributed in the air return way. The most important thing in unsealing a stope is to have the initial peak volume of gas discharged well under control. A commonly used method in solving this problem is at first to use a small amount of air and then increasing it gradually. Our study shows that, by extracting gas from the upper corner, we can use a large volume of air at first in order to shorten considerably the discharge time and improve efficiency, thereby making mining activity safer.