Simulating the Impact of a Shale Gas Well Breach on Longwall Mine Ventilation Utilizing a Scaled Physical Model

Details

• Personal Author:
  Addis J ; Gangrade V ; Hollerich C ; Kimutis R ; Schatzel, Steven J. ; Watkins E
• Description:
  The recent shale gas revolution in the United States has led to the drilling of hundreds of unconventional shale gas wells in active and future coal reserves in traditional coal-mining regions of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. This paper summarizes the impact of a shale gas well breach on the mine ventilation system of an operating longwall panel. This study utilizes a 1:30 scaled Longwall Instrumented Aerodynamic Model (LIAM) to simulate a single-panel longwall operation. The LIAM will be utilized to identify flow pathways and distribution patterns of gas from breached gas well scenarios in an operating longwall in the Pittsburgh Coal Seam. Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) tracer gas is utilized to simulate a breached gas well. Preliminary findings suggest that the breached gas is diluted to regulatory levels and does not accumulate in the mine entries or in the longwall gob when the longwall panel is adequately ventilated. Overall, this study characterizes the potential interaction between shale gas wells and the mine environment in the event of a gas well breach, which provides critical information to the industry and regulatory agencies for improving safety, health, and welfare of miners. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Mining Occupational Health Safety Ventilation
• Keywords:
  Drilling Gas Flow Gas Sampling Longwall Mining Mine Safety Underground Mines Ventilation Systems
• Series:
  Mining Publications
• ISBN:
  9781713845089
• Publisher:
  Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (SME)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 8 ; Pennsylvania ; Utah
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  PMRD - Pittsburgh Mining Research Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  275-282
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20065273
• Citation:
  MineXchange: 2022 SME Annual Conference and Expo, February 27-March 2, 2022, Salt Lake City, Utah, preprint 22-054. Englewood, CO: Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration, 2022 Feb; :275-282
• Contact Point Address:
  V. Gangrade, CDC NIOSH, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2022
• NORA Priority Area:
  Mining
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  MineXchange: 2022 SME Annual Conference and Expo, February 27-March 2, 2022, Salt Lake City, Utah, preprint 22-054
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:17cb08fe53910ca05d231835c52833970a6f42f5dab4718ad7fd6918dc44f12daa8cb97716337e9d511909cfe82115db9d7767e75c29d960341a9473d0190f2d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/215497/cdc_215497_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 416.49 KB ]