TY - JOUR
T1 - Rapid decompression and desorption induced energetic failure in coal
AU - Wang, Shugang
AU - Elsworth, Derek
AU - Liu, Jishan
N1 - Funding Information:
This work is a partial result of funding by NIOSH under contract 200-2008-25702 , and the National Science Foundation under grant EAR-0842134 . This support is gratefully acknowledged. The authors thank Prof. Qi Li and anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments which have helped to improve the paper.
Funding Information:
Shugang Wang received his PhD in Rock Mechanics from The Pennsylvania State University, USA in 2012. His research interests are in the areas of mechanical and transport characteristics of fractured rocks, with application to CO 2 geological sequestration and unconventional energy recovery including coalbed methane and gas shales, and instability of coal mines. He has worked on projects sponsored by National Science Foundation, CDC National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Mine Safety and Health Administration, and the oil and gas industry. He is the author or co-author of more than 40 scientific papers and he has reviewed more than 200 articles for 25 international journals. He is an Associate Editor of Society of Petroleum Engineers Journal and of Journal of Unconventional Oil and Gas Resources . He has received several outstanding technical editor awards from several journals. He is a member of Computational Geotechnics Committee and Poromechanics Committee of ASCE. He was elected to the third class of Future Leaders of the American Rock Mechanics Association in 2014.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
PY - 2015/6/1
Y1 - 2015/6/1
N2 - In this study, laboratory experiments are conducted to investigate the rapid decompression and desorption induced energetic failure in coal using a shock tube apparatus. Coal specimens are recovered from Colorado at a depth of 610m. The coal specimens are saturated with the strong sorbing gas CO2 for a certain period and then the rupture disc is suddenly broken on top of the shock tube to generate a shock wave propagating upwards and a rarefaction wave propagating downwards through the specimen. This rapid decompression and desorption has the potential to cause energetic fragmentation in coal. Three types of behaviors in coal after rapid decompression are found, i.e. degassing without fragmentation, horizontal fragmentation, and vertical fragmentation. We speculate that the characteristics of fracture network (e.g. aperture, spacing, orientation and stiffness) and gas desorption play a role in this dynamic event as coal can be considered as a dual porosity, dual permeability, dual stiffness sorbing medium. This study has important implications in understanding energetic failure process in underground coal mines such as coal gas outbursts.
AB - In this study, laboratory experiments are conducted to investigate the rapid decompression and desorption induced energetic failure in coal using a shock tube apparatus. Coal specimens are recovered from Colorado at a depth of 610m. The coal specimens are saturated with the strong sorbing gas CO2 for a certain period and then the rupture disc is suddenly broken on top of the shock tube to generate a shock wave propagating upwards and a rarefaction wave propagating downwards through the specimen. This rapid decompression and desorption has the potential to cause energetic fragmentation in coal. Three types of behaviors in coal after rapid decompression are found, i.e. degassing without fragmentation, horizontal fragmentation, and vertical fragmentation. We speculate that the characteristics of fracture network (e.g. aperture, spacing, orientation and stiffness) and gas desorption play a role in this dynamic event as coal can be considered as a dual porosity, dual permeability, dual stiffness sorbing medium. This study has important implications in understanding energetic failure process in underground coal mines such as coal gas outbursts.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jrmge.2015.01.004
DO - 10.1016/j.jrmge.2015.01.004
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85006210780
SN - 1674-7755
VL - 7
SP - 345
EP - 350
JO - Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering
JF - Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering
IS - 3
ER -