Test studies of gas flow in rock and coal surrounding a mined coal seam

An analysis of the variation rule of abutment pressure at the mining working face in a single coal seam and the mechanical behavior of surrounding rock during stoping is presented. Consideration of the elastic and plastic deformation zones that develop during the mining process allowed the determination of a relationship between horizontal stress and vertical stress. Based on this, a confined pressure unloading test was conducted by the use of the “gas-containing coal thermo-fluid-solid coupling 3-axis servo seepage” experimental apparatus. Thus, gas flow patterns in the elastic and plastic zones were derived from an experimental point of view. Darcy’s law and the Klinkenberg effect were used to derive a gas flow equation for the elastic and plastic stress fields. The study of gas flow phenomena at the working face during coal mining is of great importance for the study of gas migration and enrichment patterns.