Step change approaches in coal technology and fugitive emissions research

Multi-factor productivity (MFP) in underground coal mining has been on the decline for the last decade. The mining industry requires a viable and sustainable approach to overcome the current downtrend. This is only possible by concurrently focussing on productivity improvement and operating costs reduction, delivered through both incremental and step change technology development. Four technologies are presented in this paper: fibre optic borehole sensing has been demonstrated to reveal detailed information about gas flow influx, water level and borehole blockage events occurring along the length of a surface-to-inseam lateral. Fibre optic gas sensing has also been investigated, and this technology promises a remote, intrinsically safe, distributed solution. Recent developments in continuous water jet drilling technology have demonstrated a step change increase in drilling rates and flexibility for coal seam degassing, applicable in both surface-to-inseam and underground in-seam applications. The application of water jet technology to the cable bolt drilling problem offers potential to address a serious health and safety and productivity issue in the roadway development process.