Method for stepwise construction of preferential gas migration pathway at stope in coal seam

A method for stepwise construction of a system of gas migration pathways at a stope in a coal seam, comprising:

• a. performing a conventional mining of a first mined seam, wherein a working face, an auxiliary intake airway, and a primary intake airway form a gas migration pathway outside a coal-rock mass at the stope, at the same time, due to a mining-induced stress and a mining-induced pressure relief effect, mining-induced fractures in the coal seam develop, in-seam mining-induced fractures are formed in the first mined seam, and roof vertical fractures and floor penetrating fractures are respectively formed in a roof stratum and a floor stratum;
• b. after the working face advances as mining takes place, building an entry-retaining wall rapidly in the first mined seam, thereby rapidly forming a retained-entry preferential gas migration pathway, which is part of the system of the gas migration pathways, behind the working face, that is, forming an efficient guide pathway for gas in a space external to the coal-rock mass at the stope, so that a flowing direction of wind is optimized, gas in the space external to the coal-rock mass flows with an air flow along the guide pathway, the gas in the space external to the coal-rock mass is effectively guided and discharged, and accumulation of gas in local areas in the space external to the coal-rock mass is avoided;
• c. determining a range of a critical reinforced supporting and stabilizing area of the retained-entry preferential gas migration pathway and the auxiliary intake airway according to the mining-induced stress, and performing sectional reinforced supporting and stabilization on the auxiliary intake airway and the retained-entry preferential gas migration pathway in a mining-induced stress influence area;
• d. during mining of the first mined seam, for a change condition of a roof, when a hard roof condition occurs, constructing manual-guided pre-fracturing boreholes into a hard roof in advance of the working face in the auxiliary intake airway and the primary intake airway, wherein generated manual-guided fractures induce a formation of a roof-vertical-fracture preferential gas migration pathway in a coal-rock stratum at the stope as the mining-induced stress changes, and promote a formation of an overlying stratum rock fracture area, and an in-seam mining-induced fracture area and a goaf loose rock fracture area are connected to the overlying stratum rock fracture area through the roof-vertical-fracture preferential gas migration pathway, so as to avoid accumulation of gas in a goaf and promote flowing and concentration of gas of the stope;
• e. after the roof-vertical-fracture preferential gas migration pathway internal to the coal-rock mass and the retained-entry preferential gas migration pathway external to the coal-rock mass have been gradually constructed at the stope, continuing with the advance of the working face, wherein a large amount of gas in the in-seam mining-induced fracture area of the first mined seam is desorbed, diffused, and flows into the working face, the auxiliary intake airway, and the primary intake airway and further flows into the retained-entry preferential gas migration pathway and the goaf along the guide pathway, and a part of gas in the space external to the coal-rock mass in the working face, the auxiliary intake airway, and the primary intake airway and the in-seam mining-induced fracture area migrates upward along the roof-vertical-fracture preferential gas migration pathway and concentrates in the overlying stratum rock fracture area;
• as the working face advances, due to mining in the first mined seam, the floor penetrating fractures gradually develop into a floor-penetrating-fracture preferential gas migration pathway under the mining-induced pressure relief effect, pressure relief gas in an underlying coal seam migrates upward along the floor-penetrating-fracture preferential gas migration pathway and flows into the working face, the auxiliary intake airway, the primary intake airway, the retained-entry preferential gas migration pathway, and the goaf in the first mined seam, gas concentrates in the goaf loose rock fracture area, and at the same time gas in the goaf migrates upward along the roof-vertical-fracture preferential gas migration pathway and concentrates in the overlying stratum rock fracture area;
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• f. with further mining in the first mined seam, repeating steps a to e to enable gas to flow in an efficient and orderly manner along the constructed retained-entry preferential gas migration pathway in the space external to the coal-rock mass, where at the same time gas flows and concentrates along the constructed roof-vertical-fracture preferential gas migration pathway and the floor-penetrating-fracture preferential gas migration pathway in the coal-rock stratum, under the effect of mining-induced stress, the system of the gas migration pathways connected to each other at the stope is eventually formed, and gas concentration areas in the in-seam mining-induced fracture area, the goaf loose rock fracture area, the overlying stratum rock fracture area, and an underlying coal-rock stratum rock and coal-seam fracture area are gradually formed, so as to create desirable conditions for centralized diversion and extraction of gas.