The solutions presented permit the practical determination of the physical parameters of peak ground vibration, caused by strong mining tremors induced by mining, in the Polish part of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin (USCB). The parameters of peak ground horizontal velocity (PGVH) and peak ground horizontal acceleration (PGAH10) at any point of earth’s surface depend on seismic energy, epicentral distance and site effect. Distribution maps of PGVH and of PGAH10 parameters were charted for the period 2010-2019. Analysis of the results obtained indicates the occurrence of zones with increased values of these parameters. Based on the Mining Seismic Instrumental Intensity Scale (MSIIS-15), which is used to assess the degree of vibration intensity caused by seismic events induced by mining, and using the PGVH parameter, it was noted that the distribution map of this parameter includes zones where there vibration velocities of both 0.04 m/s and 0.06 m/s were exceeded. Vibrations with this level of PGVH correspond to intensities in the V and VI degree according to the MSIIS-2015 scale, which means that they can already cause slight structural damage to building objects and cause equipment to fall over. Moreover, the reason why the second parameter PGAH10 is less useful for the evaluation of the intensity of mining induced vibrations is explained. The PGAH10 vibration acceleration parameter, in turn, can be used to design construction of the objects in the seismic area of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin, where the highest acceleration reached a value of 2.8 m/s2 in the period from 2010 to 2019.

Currently available field rock mass deformability determination methods are rather difficult to perform, due to their complexity and a time-consuming nature. This article shows results of a suitability assessment of a Pen206 borehole jack (a hydraulic penetrometer) for field rock mass deformability measurements. This type of the borehole jack is widely used in Polish hard coal mining industry. It was originally intended only for quick rock mass strength parameters determination. This article describes an analysis and scope of basic modifications performed mainly on a borehole jack head. It includes discussion of results with possible directions for future development of the device.

In recent years, the Vietnamese coal mining industry has observed a dynamic increase in both its production and efficiency. In Vietnam, the most precious type of coal is anthracite, which is found in the Quang Ninh province. Industrial anthracite deposits are estimated to be over 2 billion Mg. At present, coal deposits are extracted mostly by the underground method. Coal production is gradually increasing in the underground mines in the Quang Ninh area and it is expected to constitute about 75% of the country’s total coal production in 2030. This involves an increase in the number and length of underground workings.

Cam Pha is the largest coal basin of Vietnam, located in the Quang Ninh province. So far, the yearly length of underground workings driven in underground mines in the Cam Pha basin is roughly 90÷150 km. About 84 % of these underground workings are supported by the steel arch support made of SWP profile. A similar situation can be observed in Russia, Ukraine, China, India and Turkey. In addition, the average length of repaired underground workings in the Cam Pha basin constitutes approximately 30% of the total length driven . The main cause was reported is loss of underground workings stability. This requires significant material and labour costs as well as the cost of replacing damaged elements. Additionally, it disturbs the continuity of the mining operations.

This article presents the results of the numerical modelling of the rock mass around underground workings driven in typical geo-mining conditions for underground coal mines in the Cam Pha basin, supported by the steel arch support made of SWP and V profiles. As a result of the conducted analyses, the range of failure zone of the rock mass around underground workings and the distribution of reduced stress in the steel arch support elements were determined. The effort states of the steel arch support made of SWP22 profile and V21 profile were compared. The simulations considered different inclinations angle of coal seam, following the structure of the rock mass in the Cam Pha basin. The analysis was carried out using the based-finite difference method code, FLAC2D. Based on the obtained results, actions for improving the stability of underground workings driven in the underground mines of the Cam Pha basin were proposed.

A mathematical model for the purposes of methane hazard assessment in mines was developed in the Central Mining Institute as part of the statutory activities conducted in 2017 and 2018. The model describes the course of kinetics of methane sorption on coal samples while taking into account the diffusion coefficient. The paper presents the formulas describing the mathematical model of methane emission from coal sidewall to longwall working, taking into account the sorption properties of coal – sorption capacity of coal (related to methane) and the effective diffusion coefficient of methane in coal. In the light of the conducted research, such a methodology for describing this phenomenon enables a more precise determination of the amount of methane released to the longwall from the exploited coal seam, which in turn makes it possible to select appropriate methane prevention measures.

The safety of mining operations in hard coal mines must be constantly developed and improved. There is ongoing multi-directional research focused at best recognition of the phenomenon associated with the properties of the coal-gas system and its connections with mining and geological conditions. This article presents the results of sorption experiments on coals from the Upper Silesian Coal Basin, which are characterized by varying degrees of coalification. One of the parameters that describes the kinetics of methane sorption, determining and providing valuable information about gas hazard and in particular the risk of gas and rock outbursts, is the effective diffusion coefficient De. It is derived from the solution of Fick’s second law using many simplifying assumptions. Among them is the assumption that the carbon matrix consists of only one type of pore – micropores. In fact, there are quite often at least two different mechanisms, which are connected to each other, related to the diffusion of methane from the microporous matrix and flows occurring in voids and macropores. This article presents both the unipore and bidisperse models and a set of comparisons which fit them to experimental curves for selected coals. For some samples the more complex bidisperse model gave much better results than the classic unipore one. The supremacy of the bidisperse model could be associated with the differences in the coal structure related to the coalification degree. Initial results justify further analyses on a wider set of coals using the methodology developed in this paper.

The use of computer techniques at the design stage of industrial facilities is essential in modern times. The ability to shorten the time required to develop a project and assess the safety of the use of assumptions, often enables the reduction of the costs incurred in the future. The possibility to skip expensive prototype tests by using 3D prototyping is why it is currently the prevailing model in the design of industrial facilities, including in the mining industry. In the case of a longwall working, its stability requires the maintenance of the geometric continuity of floor rocks in cooperation with a powered roof support.

The paper investigates the problem of longwall working stability under the influence of roof properties, coal properties, shield loading and the roof-floor interaction. The longwall working stability is represented by an index, factor of safety (FOS), and is correlated with a previously proposed roof capacity index ‘g‘. The topic of the paper does address an issue of potential interest.

The assessment of the stability of the roof in longwalls was based on the numerical analysis of the factor of safety (FOS), using the Mohr-Coulomb stress criterion. The Mohr-Coulomb stress criterion enables the prediction of the occurrence of failures when the connection of the maximum tensile principal stress σ1 and the minimum compressive principal stress σ3 exceed relevant stress limits. The criterion is used for materials which indicates distinct tensile and compressive characteristics. The numerical method presented in the paper can be utilized in evaluating the mining natural hazards through predicting the parameters, which determine the roof maintenance in the longwall working.

One of the purposes of the numerical analysis was to draw attention to the possibilities that are currently created by specialized software as an important element accompanying the modern design process, which forms part of intelligent underground mining 4.0.

Steel yielding arch support constructed of V profiles is commonly used to protect galleries and, in some cases, to reinforce or secure a shaft support. For this purpose, a closed, circular-shaped arch support is used, with arches overlapped by clamps that are typical for this type of construction. The support has high resistance to the impact of even (distributed over the entire surface of the support) load, however, as a result of significant deformation associated with a change in the radius of the curvatures, the support shows limited yielding capacity. This is due to the increase in resistance to slide on the locks, resulting from changes in the geometry of the ring caused by the rock mass. This article presents the results of research and analysis concerning the elements of the arch support with notches in arches. The research team tested the effect of the depth and location of the notches of the section’s flanges on the load impacting on the clamp’s bolts and the strength of the roof support. Moreover, the tests covered the influence of the number and location of clamps in a frictional joint on the change in the nature of work and yielding capacity. Finally, the research included both strength tests of the support’s elements, as well as strength analyses based on the finite element method.

This article focuses on the difficulties in ensuring longwall stability resulting from the wrong geometric form of the structure of powered support sections. The authors proved, based on the in-situ measurements and numerical calculations, that proper cooperation of the support with the rock mass requires correct determination of the support point for the hydraulic legs along the length of the canopy (ratio), as well as the inclination of the shield support of the section of the powered roof support. The lack of these two fundamental elements may lead to roof drops that directly impact the production results and safety of the people working underground. Another matter arising from the incorrect geometric form of the construction are the values of forces created in the node connecting the canopy with the caving shield, which can make a major contribution to limit the practical range of the operational height of the powered roof support (due to interaction of powered support with rockmass) in terms of the operating range offered by the manufacturer of the powered support. The operating of the powered roof support in some height ranges may hinder, or even in certain cases prevent, the operator of powered support, moving the shields and placing them with the proper geometry (ensuring parallelism between the canopy and the floor bases of the section).

It is widely known and accepted that the global climate is changing with unprecedented speed. Climate models project increasing temperatures and changes in precipitation regimes which will alter the frequency, magnitude, and geographic distribution of climate-related hazards including flood, drought and heat waves. In the mining industry, climate change impacts are an area of research around the world, mostly in relation to the mining industry in Australia and Canada, where mining policies and mitigation actions based on the results of this research were adopted and applied. In Poland, there is still a lack of research on how climate change, and especially extreme weather events, impacts mining activity. This impact may be of particular importance in Poland, where the mining industry is in the process of intensive transition. The paper presents an overview of hazardous events in mining in Poland that were related to extreme weather phenomena. The needs and recommended actions in the scope of mitigating the impact of future climate change on mining in all stages of its functioning were also indicated. The presented analyses and conclusions are the results of the first activities in the TEXMIN project: The impact of extreme weather events on mining activities, identifying the most important factors resulting from climate change impact on mining.

In longwall absolute methane emission rate forecasting, the range of the destressing zone is determined empirically and is not considered to be dependent on the geomechanical parameters of the rock strata. This simplification regarding destressing zone determination may result in significant differences between the forecast and the actual methane emission rates. During the extraction of coal seams using a system involving longwalls with caving under the conditions of low rock mass geomechanical parameters, the absolute methane emission rate forecasts are typically underestimated in comparison to the actual methane emission rates.

In order to examine the influence of the destressing zones on the final forecasting result and to assess the influence of the rock mass geomechanical parameters on the increased accuracy of forecast values, destressing zones were determined for three longwalls with lengths ranging from 186 to 250 m, based on numerical modelling using the finite difference method (FDM). The modelling results confirmed the assumptions concerning the upper destressing zone range adopted for absolute methane emission rate forecasting. As for the remaining parameters, the destressing zones yielded great differences, particularly for floor strata. To inspect the accuracy of the FDM calculation result, an absolute methane emission rate forecasting algorithm was supplemented with the obtained zones. The prepared forecasts, both for longwall methane emission rates as well as the inflow of methane to the longwalls from strata within the destressing zone, were verified via underground methane emission tests. A comparative analysis found that including geomechanical parameters in methane emission rate forecasting can significantly reduce the errors in forecast values.

The introduction of the article presents the problem of interpreting the level of fire hazard basing on Graham’s ratio, which, in certain ranges of the value of its denominator, may be wrong. The range of credibility for the index is also discussed. The issue of nitrogen inertisation and its influence on the value of the discussed index is also addressed. To determine the influence, two statistical samples were set. They consisted of the results of precise chromatographic analyses of the air samples collected in the longwall areas which were not subjected to inertisation and in the areas where nitrogen was applied as the inert gas. Then, with Student’s t-test, there was conducted a comparative analysis of both groups with regard to the equality of the average concentrations of gases emitted in the coal self-heating process. At the end, there were developed criteria for the application of Graham’s ratio for the air samples of the increased content of nitrogen, which, according to the discussed index, did not indicate the occurrence of an endogenous fire hazard.

This work is a continuation and extension of previous socio-economic analyses of hard coal mines, which were conducted at the Central Mining Institute in the years 2013-2015. The paper presents the results of the economic evaluation of the hard coal mining sector in the years 2016-2018 using the Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) methodology. Used for the socio-economic assessment of hard coal mining, the CBA methodology enables the comprehensive evaluation of the functioning of this sector of the economy in Poland. In addition to financial aspects, which are important from the point of view of coal companies, it also included the social and environmental influence resulting from the impact of mines on the environment. Direct data of operating costs and payments (including public-law payments), incurred by the hard coal mining industry in Poland, was used. This data is obtained by Industrial Development Agency JSC, Branch Office Katowice as part of the “Program of statistical surveys of official statistics” – statistical survey “Hard coal and lignite mining industry”. They were supplemented with data coming from commonly available public statistics. For the analysed period the presented results indicate that the financial and social benefits resulting from the hard coal mining activity in Poland outweighed the financial, social and environmental costs generated by this industry. This confirms the desirability of further functioning of the hard coal mining industry in Poland, however, assuming effective restructuring activities that will result in lower costs of coal production.

Dependences Between Certain Petrographic, Geochemical and Technological Indicators of Coal Quality in the Limnic Series of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin (Uscb), Poland

This article aims to assess the values of the most often measured petrographic, geochemical and technological indicators of coal quality and to identify probable dependences between them in the USCB coal. The following can also be observed: high content of Cd and Co in carbonate minerals separated from coal, in clay minerals – Cr and Zn, and in sulfide minerals – Cu, Ni and Pb. Nevertheless, it is organic matter which has the greatest influence on the average content of trace elements in coal. Correlations between the values of some of the indicators of coal quality were also observed. It has been observed that the increase in vitrinite content in coal is accompanied by a decrease in, while an increase in the content of liptinite and inertinite in coal is accompanied by an increase in the content of CaO, MgO, and SO3 in coal ash. An increase in the carbonization of organic matter is accompanied by an increase in the content of Cu and Ni in coal, and a decrease in the content of Pb and S in coal and the content of Fe2O3 in coal ash.

Tremors occur randomly in terms of time, energy as well as the location of their focus. The present state of knowledge and technology does not allow for the precise prediction of these values. Therefore, it is extremely important to correctly select a powered roof support for specific geological and mining conditions, especially in the case of areas where dynamic phenomena are often registered. This article presents information on rock burst hazard associated with the occurrence of rock mass tremors and their influence on a powered roof support. Furthermore, protection methods of a powered roof support against the negative effects of dynamic phenomena are discussed. As a result of an analysis the methodology, to determine the impact of dynamic phenomena on the powered roof support in given geological and mining conditions is presented.

The article presents the methodology for assessing the longevity of hard coal mines. Based on international experts’ assessments, important criteria for determining mine viability have been presented. The results refer to Polish coal mines in the area of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin, however, the methodology itself can be applied to other geological and mining conditions of mines elsewhere.

The results of structural analyses carried out using the MICMAC method for factors related to the mining geo-environment that may determine the longevity of individual hard coal mines are presented. The analyses were based on the results of expert surveys carried out using the Delphi method. The experts participating in the survey came from various countries and had extensive experience related to work or cooperation with hard coal mining. The criterion factors examined were assigned to two systems (groups) for which structural analysis was performed. The first group includes factors related to the level of exploitation hampering, while the second group includes factors related to hard coal quality and the availability of resources. As a result of the analyses the following were determined: the key factors which have the most significant influence on the system, result and goal factors, factors affecting the system and autonomous factors which have little effect on the system.

The obtained results allowed to determine which factors should be taken into account in the process of determining the longevity of a hard coal mine.

Difficult geological and mining conditions as well as great stresses in the rock mass result in significant deformations of the rocks that surround the workings and also lead to the occurrence of tremors and rock bursts. Yielding steel arch support has been utilised in the face of hard coal extraction under difficult conditions for many years, both in Poland and abroad. A significant improvement in maintaining gallery working stability is achieved by increasing the yielding support load capacity and work through bolting; however, the use of rock bolts is often limited due to factors such as weak roof rock, significant rock mass fracturing, water accumulation, etc. This is why research and design efforts continue in order to increase yielding steel arch support resistance to both static and dynamic loads. Currently, the most commonly employed type of yielding steel arch support is a support system with frames constructed from overlapping steel arches coupled by shackles. The yield of the steel frame is accomplished by means of sliding joints constructed from sections of various profiles (e.g. V, TH or U-type), which slip after the friction force is exceeded; this force is primarily dependent on the type of shackles and the torque of the shackle screw nuts.

This article presents the static bench testing results of ŁP10/V36/4/A, ŁP10/V32/4/A and ŁP10/V29/4/A yielding steel arch support systems formed from S480W and S560W steel with increased mechanical properties. The tests were conducted using 2 and 3 shackles in the joint, which made it possible to compare the load capacities, work values and characteristics of various types of support. The following shackle screw torques were used for the tests:

• Md = 500 Nm – for shackles utilised in the support constructed from V32 and V36 sections.

• Md = 400 Nm – for shackles utilised in the support constructed from V29 sections.

The shackle screw torques used during the tests were greater compared to the currently utilised standard shackle screw torques within the range of Md = 350-450 Nm.

Dynamic testing of the sliding joints constructed from V32 section with 2 and 3 shackles was also performed. The SD32/36W shackles utilised during the tests were produced in the reinforced versions and manufactured using S480W steel.

Since comparative testing of a rock bolt-reinforced steel arch support system revealed that the bolts would undergo failure at the point of the support yield, a decision was made to investigate the character of the dynamics of this phenomenon. Consequently, this article also presents unique measurement results for top section acceleration values registered in the joints during the conduction of support tests at full scale.

Filming the yield in the joint using high-speed video and thermal cameras made it possible to register the dynamic characteristics of the joint heating process at the arch contact point as well as the mechanical sparks that accompanied it. Considering that these phenomena have thus far been poorly understood, recognising their significance is of great importance from the perspective of occupational safety under the conditions of an explosive atmosphere, especially in the light of the requirements of the new standard EN ISO 80079-36:2016, harmonised with the ATEX directive.