Experience of coalbed methane extraction in the Karaganda coal basin

Abstract

This article discusses the issues of ensuring the safe conduct of mining operations in coal mines. Ensuring the safety of coal industry workers is an urgent problem today. The gas content of the layers increases with the depth of their occurrence and is a deterrent factor in the extraction of minerals. Sudden methane emissions can provoke a large number of human casualties, financial losses, and other consequences. In recent years alone, such accidents have claimed more than 157 human lives in the mines of the Karaganda coal basin. However, by solving this important problem, you can get associated gas. It is not easy to reduce the gas content using existing degassing technologies. The formations have almost zero gas permeability and low gas output at the current depths of their development. That is why it is necessary to have an impact on the coal seam as early as possible in order to ensure the release of methane. This process will make it possible to obtain associated gas, which can be used for the needs of industry or the national economy. As a result, reducing the gas content of coal seams will reduce the risks of mining operations and increase labor safety.