Pulverization characteristics of coal from a strong outburst-prone coal seam and their impact on gas desorption and diffusion properties

•The coal that has an unprecedentedly high degree of fragmentation was presented.•The pulverization characteristics of the pulverized coal were investigated.•The gas desorption and diffusion properties of the pulverized coal were analyzed.•The geological conditions for generating the pulverized coal were discussed.

Coal seams that are prone to strong outbursts have low strength and cause heavy structural damage to the seam. Their outburst risk is highly related to the release of the adsorbed coalbed gas, which is controlled by the gas desorption and diffusion characteristics of coal. In the Haizi Coal Mine, China, an extremely high gas outburst risk was detected, and the coals from this area were found to have an unprecedented high degree of fragmentation and were present in the pulverized state. To explain the pulverization characteristics of the pulverized coal, the related physical parameters were investigated; the gas desorption and diffusion properties of the pulverized coal were analyzed and compared with those of the unpulverized coal. The results indicated that the pulverized coal could easily reach the required degree of fragmentation for a coal and gas outburst to occur. Furthermore, the pore volume and specific surface area of the pulverized coal differed according to the coal particle size. Compared with the unpulverized coal, the gas desorption and diffusion properties of the pulverized coal were largely varied, and the pore structure of the pulverized coal was much simpler. The formation of pulverized coal is believed to be closely related to complex geological conditions.