ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Earth Sci.
Sec. Solid Earth Geophysics
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feart.2025.1594895
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvanced Materials and Technologies for Sustainable Development of Underground ResourcesView all 50 articles
A Robust Framework of Hydraulic Fracturing Applications for Competent Roof Caving in Underground Longwall Operations
Provisionally accepted
- 1China Coal Energy Research Institute Co., Ltd, Xi’an, China
- 2State Key Laboratory for Fine Exploration and Intelligent Development of Coal Resources, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, China
- 3Key Laboratory of Deep Coal Resource Mining of Ministry of Education, School of Mines, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, China
- 4Shijiazhuang Coal Mining Machinery Co., Ltd, Shijiazhuang, China
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Longwall working faces are considered one of the main technological methods for large-scale coal mining projects, as they enable the extraction of more coal resources in a single operation. However, the large-scale cantilever roof formed in scenarios with hard rock layers presents significant challenges to mining safety operations. Managing the hard-hanging roof to control the risks of rock bursts and coal and gas outbursts is a key scientific issue that longwall working faces must overcome. To address this, we propose a comprehensive hydraulic fracturing technology framework for managing the hard, suspended roof, using the 51212 working face of the Guojiawan Coal Mine as a case study. Rock mechanics tests were conducted to determine the mine's geotechnical and geological conditions. A robust 3DEC numerical simulation was performed to develop the optimal design for hydraulic fracturing, particularly identifying the locations where fracturing should occur. Finally, a comprehensive field application of the hydraulic fracturing technique was conducted, with extensive site monitoring. The results demonstrated that hydraulic fracturing in the middle of the goaf area produced the best caving outcomes, with the roof collapsing after the longwall face retreated by 130 meters. The field monitoring data-such as rockbolt stress, tunnel convergence, and hydraulic shield pressure-validated the numerical simulation results. As a result, a validated framework for hydraulic fracturing at field scale was developed, providing guidance for future engineering applications.
Keywords: hydraulic fracturing, Hanging roof, Longwall face, Coal mine, field test
Received: 17 Mar 2025; Accepted: 05 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wu, Gu, He, Gao, Liu, Li, Yang and Gong. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Qingyuan He, State Key Laboratory for Fine Exploration and Intelligent Development of Coal Resources, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, China
Xuefeng Gao, Key Laboratory of Deep Coal Resource Mining of Ministry of Education, School of Mines, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, China
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