Experimental Investigation on Mechanics and Seepage Characteristics of Tectonic and Intact Coal Containing Gas

Coalbed methane is a double-edged sword with two attributes of energy and hazard in coal mines. Gas drainage is the most direct and effective measure for gas recovery and disaster prevention in coal mines, which is seriously affected by the mechanics and seepage characteristics of coal. In this work, we experimentally simulated the triaxial compression and gas depletion processes using both tectonic coal and intact coal. The mechanics and seepage characteristics of tectonic and intact coal under the coupling effect of stress and gas pressure were analyzed and compared. The results show that during the triaxial compression, the damage stress and peak stress of tectonic coal is only half that of intact coal, while their compaction stress or residual stress are almost the same. Meanwhile, the permeability recovery value after tectonic coal failure is very limited, even smaller than that of intact coal, although its primary permeability is much larger than that of intact coal. On the contrary, the permeability recovery value after intact coal failure is more than twice of its primary permeability. During the gas depletion, the rebound gas pressure of tectonic coal is smaller than that of intact coal, and the permeability of tectonic coal is one order of magnitude larger than that of intact coal before the gas pressure drops to 2 MPa. The broken of tectonic coal and the low permeability of intact coal may be the two principal reasons. Therefore, in the tectonic coal area, the gas extraction time at high gas pressure stage should be stabilized, while in the intact coal area, the gas extraction time at low gas pressure stage should be increased, and the coal permeability enhancement measures should be combined to achieve the goal of high and stable production of coalbed methane.