Underground Coal Mining Methods

UNDERGROUND COAL MINING METHODS

Manoj Pradhan
Professor, Dept of Mining Engineering
National Institute of Technology
Raipur
 COAL
• Coal is an organic sedimentary rock that forms from
the accumulation and preservation of plant materials,
usually in a swamp environment.

• It is a combustible rock and is a most important

fossil fuels.

• Coal has a wide range of uses;

✓ Generation of electricity. ( About 60 % of electricity is

generated In India by coal fired power plants)

✓ source of heat for manufacturing processes. For

example, bricks ,cement. steel

✓ to produce Coke, which is used in metallurgical

process as reducing agents.

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 COUNYRTY WISE COAL RESERVE AND PRODUCTION

Country Reserve, Reserve wise Production, Production wise

Billion tonnes rank, million tonnes rank

USA 250 I 728 III

Russia 160 II 423 VI 502 Indonesia

rank V

Australia 147 III 554 IV

China 138 IV 3,708 I

India 101 V 761 II

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STATEWISE COAL RESERVE
DISTRIBUTION OF COAL IN INDIA
• Most of the coal mined in India comes from the rock formations of two geological ages
viz. Lower Gondwana and Tertiary.

• The Gondwana coal mines are located in river valleys of Damodar, Mahanadi, Godavari,
Son

• Major Coalfields of Gondwana Coal: Jharia (largest coal field of India), Raniganhj (second
largest coal field of India), Bokaro, Giridih, Karanpura , Chandrapur, Tatapani, Talcher,
Himgiri, Korba, Singrauli etc.

• The states in which Gondwana coal fields are found: Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh,
West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Sikkim,
Assam.

• Tertiary coal is the lignite coal . It is found in the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry,
Gujarat, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir. India’s largest ignite deposits are at Neyveli
in Tamil Nadu.
COALIFICATION
• Coal a combustible sedimentary rock
formed from accumulation of plant
remains modified by chemical,
biological and physical processes
during and after burial.

• Millions of years ago, the plant debris

accumulated in various wet
environments, commonly called peat
swamps, in which trees, ferns and the
like are deposited, and buried by sand,
silt and mud. As a result of
temperature and pressure effects,
metamorphosis of the woody material
occurs to produce the various types of
coal.
• This process of transformation of plant debris under reducing condition into a
continuous series of products having increasing percentages of carbon and diminishing
percentage of oxygen and hydrogen is called coalification

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Theories proposed for the mode of accumulation of the plant materials to transform into coal.

• Drift theory:
As per this, coal seams are believed to be formed out of plants and trees which grew millions
of years ago and fell down due to earth quake and tectonic activities, ground subsided and
the plant material drifted, to considerable distances from their original site of growth and re-
deposited as peat, to lakes, river valleys, etc., by flow of water, covered by sediments of sand
and earth.

The process of deposition continued for millions of years in layers and undergone geo-
chemical changes such as heat, bacterial decay, pressure, etc., to form coal seams. Such
coals are considered as allochthonous coals, which are usually very rich in mineral matter.

• In Situ Theory:
The plants, where it grew, subsided under the earth, which after death formed peat,
submerged in the water at the same place. The process of deposition continued in layers and
undergone geo-chemical changes as explained above to form coal seams. Such coals are
considered to be autochthonous coals, which generally have relatively much less mineral
matter
• The evidences which support in situ or autochthonous theory are:
1. It is seen that a large amount of vegetable matter has been accumulating in the swamps of the present day
and peat is forming in some localities even today.

2. Numerous fossilised tree trunks are found in the vertical position in the coal seams with their roots firmly
fixed in the under clays or seat earths that lie beneath the coal seams. These under clays are supposed to
represent the original soils on which the vegetable grew. The under clays are found deficient in alkalies
lime and oxides. It is, therefore, inferred that the plants grew over them and it were these plants
which extracted the above material.

3. The coal seams are relatively pure which would suggest that the plant materials had growth at the site of
coal seams; they accumulated there without mixing with the foreign material and had not been transported
along with the sediments.

4. The consistency in composition and quality of coal seams over wide regions seems to suggest the
deposits of the vegetable matter in still waters and from nearly the same source material under similar
condition. This is not possible if the material deposited after transportation or drift.

5. It is hard to believe that the vast amount of plant material that has given to the large coal deposits
could be transported to open seas and estuaries without being mixed with considerable amount of
inorganic sediments.
 The evidence of drift theory:

1. It is observed that large quantities of timber and tree trunks are transported downstream by present day
rivers especially in the regions of forests.

2. Beds of peat and brown coal have been found in the process of formation at the deltas of some rivers even
present day, e.g., the deltas of Mississippi and Ganga.

3. Some coal measures are associated with marine fossils which are found in the beds immediately above or
below the coal seams, suggesting their transport and subsequent deposition.

4. he rocks associated with the coal seams are sedimentary and the coal seams themselves are sedimentary
beds. Many of the seams are stratified and are made up layers of coal with partings of shale, clay or
sandstone of varying thicknesses. Carbonaceous shale beds often pass laterally into beds of pure coal.

5. Seat earths or underclays are very often absent and coal seams lie directly on sandstones shales or
conglomerates. Fireclays or seat earths have been found in marine and non-coal bearing formations, and
are not necessarily the sites of former forests.
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• Indian coal deposit support drift theory.
1. Most of the coalfields are found in river valley.
2. Indian coal is rich in mineral matter.(Ash)
3. It is seen that a large amount of vegetable matter has been accumulating in the swamps
of the present day and peat is forming in some localities even today.
4. Large proportions of tree trunks are found in inclined or prostate position and a small
proportion in vertical position. The inclined or prostate position of tree trunks suggests
that they were carried over from other areas.
5. It is estimated that at least 3.04 m of vegetal matter is required to give rise to 1 m thick
coal seams of the present day. It is difficult to believe how the large trees could get rooted
in such enormous depths of vegetal matter. According to the drift theory, it is believed that
the vegetal matter was transported more or less in transformed state, so that it was
possible to have thick coal seams.
 RANK OF COAL

Coal rank implies the degree of

Calorific value
Carbon Oxyge coalification. It is a measure of the
Substance Hydrogen% Nitrogen% cals per
% n% maturity of coal and is assessed in
gramme
terms of moisture and carbon
content, volatile matter and Vitrinite
Wood reflectivity. While peat and lignite are
50.0 6.0 43.5 0.5 5000
essentially low rank coals, anthracite
Peat are in the last stage of coalification
57.0 5.7 35.3 2.0 5500
and form the highest rank of coals.
Lignite
67.0 5.0 26.5 1.5 6500

Bituminous
Coal
83.0 5.0 10.0 1.0 8500

Anthracite
93.0 3.0 3.0 07 8500

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 RANK OF COAL
The rank of coal is defined by its position in the coalfication series, i,e., peat-anthracite-series; the peat being of
the lowest rank followed by lignites, bituminous coals and anthracites in increasing order of the rank

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 • Peat is the initial state of coal before it undergoes
Peat the coalification process.
• It occurs as a soft unconsolidated deposit near
the surface.
• The colour of the peat varies from brown to black.
The upper layers are fibrous and plant leaves,
stem and roots are easily recognisable in them.
But the lower parts are more compact and
homogeneous
• The composition and properties of peat vary
greatly from one place to another, depending on
the nature and type of the original plant material
and the extent of decay.
• It contains very large amount of water.
• Peat is not regarded as coal, but it is an important
fuel in those countries which have large deposits
of peat. It is mainly used as a domestic fuel.
 • Lignites occur at shallow depths from the surface in
relatively unconsolidated sands and clays. The
Lignite thickness of the seam may be several meters. The
world’s thickest seam 230.73 m thick occurs at Loy
yang in Vactoria, Australia at a depth of 21.3 m from
the surface.

• Lignite may be brown or black. Brown lignite is also

known brown coal.

• Brown Lignites are yellowish to dark brown in

colour and have dull or earthy lustre. Many brown
lignites are banded. Some varieties are very soft and
can be powdered in the palm; those of higher rank
are harder and more consolidated.

• Black Lignites are dark brown or black coloured;

have silky lustre and are laminated with dull and
bright bands.
• Lignites are highly susceptible to spontaneous
heating.

• The lignite is mainly used for power generation.

• Indian lignite deposits occur in the Tertiary

sediments in the southern and western parts
of the country.

It is found in Neveli, Tamil Nadu, Kutch region

of Gujrat, Rajasthan, Kerla, Pondichery.
 • Bituminous coals are found up to 1200 m depth
and thickness of seam may be several meters. The
Bituminous thickest coal seam in india is Jhingurda in
Singrauli MP which is about 150 m thick.
• Bituminous coals form the major percentage of
world’s coal resources. They are harder than
lignites and are coherent and banded.
• The banded constituents of bituminous coals are:
vitrain, clarain, fusain and durain.
• The Gondwana coals are rich in durain which
often forms 60 to 90% of the coal; fusain 3 to 4%
and the bright coals( vitrain and clarain) 10 to 30%.
• Durain is dull-looking hard, splintery part of coal. It
is essentially coal impregnated with clay or similar
fine-grained material. It occurs as grey or black
hard bands, sometimes up to 30 cm thick. It
contains more non-carbonaceous mineral matter
and in it cleats are fully developed.
• Vitrain appears to be an exudation or solid diffusion product and is rich in vitrinite.
It is found i in layers less than 13 mm in thickness and is developed along bedding
planes, vertical planes. It is brilliant black, clean to touch and has conchoidal fracture

• Clarain is also a bright coal. It possesses a silky but less brilliant lusture than vitrain
and is composed of alternating bright and dull laminae commonly less than I mm in
thickness.

• Fusain is a common constituent of bright coal. It is the dull soft charcoal like powdery
layer, a few millimetre thick and dirty to touch. It is often silky in appearance.

• Bituminous coals have wide range of properties and are, therefore, suitable for almost
all technological purposes: power generation, for making coke, for conversion into
gas and oil and for deriving a number of chemical products, and for fertilizers, etc

• All the Gondwana coal found in Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal,
Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Assam are
Bituminous coal.
 • Anthracites occupy the highet rank in
Anthracites the coalification series.

• They are black and possess a brilliant

or sub-metallic lustre. They have
conchoidal fracture. They are hard
and brittle and break into knife sharp
fragments and are absolutely clean to
the touch.

• They have high carbon, low ash,

low moisture and volatiles and their
calorific value is high.

• Anthracite is considered the cleanest

burning coal available. It produces more
heat and less smoke than other coals .

• It is found in small quantity in Jammu

and Kashmir. 21
 SIZE GRADATION OF COAL

ROM ( Run of Mine) Unscreened coal ( mixed of all sized)

Steam Coal 50 -200 mm

Rubble Coal 25- 50 mm

Slack Coal 0-25 mm

 Coking coal

• Coking coal is a types of coal, which when heated in the absence of air to a temperature
above 600oC, form a solid, porous residue called coke and the coal so heated is said to
be carbonized.
• On heating, the coal softens, and volatile components evaporate and escape through pores
in the mass. During coking, the material swells and increases in volume. The coking ability
of coal is related to its physical properties such as its rank.
• Metallurgical coal is low in ash, moisture, sulfur and phosphorus content.
• The suitability of coal for conversion to coke is also referred to as the caking ability
• It is used in steel making as a reducing agen in blast furnace.
• Coke is prepared by heated the coking coal to temperatures up to 1250°C in the coke
ovens, n the absence of oxygen. This process is referred to as “dry distillation.”
• It is found in India mainly around Dhanbad in Raniganj and Jharia coalfields.
Chemical Composition of coal
❖ Chemical Composition ( Proximate analysis)
• Moisture,
• Mineral matter Volatile matter,
• Organic matter

❖ Elemental Analysis (Ultimate analysis)

• Carbon,
• Hydrogen,
• Nitrogen,
• Sulphur and
• Oxygen content
• Phosphorous
• Moisture content is an important parameter in coal analysis. It is needed for determining
the calorific (heating) value and handling properties of a coal.

• Moisture absorbs heat, so high moisture content in coal reduces the relative efficiency of
heating when a coal is combusted. This is why low-rank, high-moisture coals have lower
calorific values than high-rank, low-moisture coals. Moisture adds weight to coal, and also
contributes to spontaneous combustion in low-rank coals.

• Surface moisture: Moisture (water) adhering to the outside of a coal sample or particle.

• Inherent moisture: Moisture (water) that occurs in the microscopic structure of the coal,
generally filling pores, but not visible in large fractures.
• Total moisture: All moisture (water) in and on a coal sample that can be removed through
heating in an oven. It is essentially equal to the inherent moisture plus the surface
moisture. It is recorded on an as-received basis.
• Moisture content is determined by Proximate analysis of coal.
• Coal also contains minerals, which mostly occur as inorganic crystalline and
noncrystalline particles or masses. A coal seam may consist of as much as 50 percent
minerals
• Minerals in coal can be divided into two broad categories:
1. Primary minerals: minerals that originated in the original coal-forming peat. Primary
minerals tend to be tiny (microns) particles embedded in the coal matrix. Biogenic
sources of primary minerals include plants and organisms in the original coal-forming
peat
2. Secondary minerals: which were introduced into the coal, remobilized in the coal, or
transformed from other minerals in the coal at any time after the original coal-forming
peat was buried. Secondary minerals include clays and other sediments transported into
the coal-forming peats during floods. They also include dust and silt carried into the peat
by wind. Thick, concentrated detrital sediments form rock partings in coal.
• The amount, particle size, and type of mineral matter in coal influences a wide variety of
uses, including combustion for steam for electrical energy production and the production
of metallurgical coke to make steel.
• Mineral component and its amount is important as it decide the resultant composition of
mission and solied residue (ash).
• Organic matter in coal include fixed carbon and volatile organic matter.

• The most common volatile matter in coal is water, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide.

• The fixed carbon is that portion of coal that remains as residue after volatile matter
distills off, after the sum of moisture and ash content in the coal is subtracted. It is
essentially carbon, but contains minor quantity of hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and
sulfur not driven off with the gases.
 COAL GRADES
• The gradation of non-coking coal is based on Gross Calorific Value (GCV), the gradation of coking coal is
based on ash content and for semi coking /weakly coking coal it is based on ash plus moisture content.
• Gradation of non coking coal:
( moisture more than 2%)

( moisture less than 2%)

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 GRADES OF COKING COAL
the gradation of coking coal is based on ash content

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 GRADES OF SEMI COKING COAL
SEMI COKING COAL : These coals, when heated in the absence of air, form coherent
beads not strong enough to be directly fed into the blast furnace. Such coals are
blended with coking coal in adequate proportion to make coke.
• These have comparatively less coking properties than coking coal
• Mainly used as blend-able coal in steel making, merchant coke manufacturing
and other metallurgical industries
• The gradation of coking coal is based on ash content

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 COAL SEAMS AND COAL MEASURES STRATA

• Coal is a sedimentary rock deposited on the

surface in a layer through a natural process .
Layers of coal are called seams.

• The coal measures rocks are usually

composed of sandstone and shale.

• Rocks are called massive when bedding

planes in them are more than 1.2 m apart.

• Bedded when between 75 mm to 1.2 m

• Flaggy when less than 75 mm

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❑ Inclination of coal seam:
• A coal seam is called flat if the general inclination of the seam to the horizontal
does not exceed 5, inclined if it is between 5 to 18, steep if it is between 18 to 40
and very step if inclination is beyond 40.

❑ Depth of the seam:

• A coal seam is called at shallow depth if its average depth from the surface is below
200 m, moderately deep if between 200 and 450 m and dep if beyond 450 m.

❑ Thickness:
• The seam is assumed to be thin if its normal thickness is less than 1.5 m, moderate
if between the range 1.5 to 4.5 m and thick if between 4.5 to 8.0 m and very thick if
beyond 8.0 m
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• Gassy seam of the first degree means a coal seam or part thereof lying within the
precincts of a mine not being an open cast working whether or not inflammable gas is
actually detected in the general body of the air at any place in its workings below ground,
or when the percentage of the inflammable gas, if and when detected, in such general
body of air does not exceed 0.1 and the rate of emission of such gas does not exceed
one cubic meter per tonne of coal produced.
• Gassy seam of the second degree means a coal seam or part thereof lying within the
precincts of a mine not being an open cast working in which the percentage of
inflammable gas in the general body of air at any place in the workings of the seam is
more than 0.1 or the rate of emission of inflammable gas per tonne of coal produced
exceeds one cubic meter but does not exceed ten cubic meters. 34
• Gassy seam of the third degree means a coal seam or part thereof lying within the
precincts of a mine not being an open cast working in which the rate of emission of
inflammable gas per tonne of coal produced exceeds ten cubic meters.

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▪ Indian coal measure rocks:
1. Sandstone

2. Shale

• Sandstone dominates the Indian coal measure rocks and accounts for nearly
50% to >85% of the coal mining rocks, depending upon the coalfield.

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 SANDSTONE
• Sandstone is the rock formed by the cementing of sands composed largely of
quartz and silicate minerals.
• In situ it is a granular mass of particles cemented with one or more of highly
viscous hydrated minerals in such a way that the elastic strains in the grains
are cemented in.
• Mostly the inter seam sandstones are fine to medium-grained. The grains are
on the average elliptical to round.
• Cement may be calcareous, argillaceous, ferruginous or siliceous. Siliceous
cement forms an extremely hard rock.
• Sandstone has high compressive strength and low bending strength, i.e.,
about 1/12th of the compressive strength.
• The tensile strength of sandstone is a small percentage of its compressive
strength (1/30th to 1/70th part of the compressive strength.
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• Under load sandstone roof does not bend easily. It may continue to
accumulate energy and rupture all of a sudden with violence causing air blast
and/or bumps, especially when the bed is massive.

• Sandstone forms a hard floor and fails at an angle of less than 45o to the
direction of compression.

• Impact of sandstone against steel may cause ignition of firedamp.

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 SHALE

• Shale is a fine-grained sedimentary rock that forms from the compaction of

silt and clay-size mineral particles that we commonly call "mud.
• It contains mica, clay minerals, quartz, feldspar, organic matter, pyrite and
chalcopyrite, etc
• Most of the clay fraction are illite and Kaolinite. Minor amount of chlorite,
quartz and iron oxides are also present.
• Blackish shales are due to the presence of carbonaceous matter in it. It is the
weakest one due to the presence of thin lenticles or wisps of coal and
numerous plant fragments.
• The lighter shales with a high arenaceous content are usually stronger than
those of blackish colour.
• Unlike sandstone shales may be deposited in very thin individual sheets and
may split into layers
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• shale roofs disintegrate when comes in contact with water Disintegration may
be due to the softening and dispersion of the colloidal matter which binds the
constituent particles of the dry shales together.
• Shale is generally weaker than sandstone but some shales can have relatively
high strength.
• Shale beds tend to split readily in a direction parallel to the bedding planes.
But a shale roof when undermined may possess a greater tendency to fracture
along planes of weakness induced by mining in a direction across the bedding
• Shale beds have comparatively higher bending capacity than sandstone and
for this reason when undermined they tend to separate from the higher bed of
sandstone .
• Also since beds of sandstone will bend to a lesser degree than beds of shale
before fracturing higher pack resistances are required under a sandstone roof
than under a shale roof for equal risk of fracture by bending 40
• As a rule shale roof presents difficulties in mining. Roof falls are common
and support requirements are stringent. But it is easily amenable to caving
and hence goaf control is facilitated

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 COAL SEAM STRUCTURE AND ABNORMALITIES

• Coal seam when deposited were flat sedimentary deposit, but subsequently
got tilted faulted and folded.

• Many abnormalities also occurred e g splitting,thinning and thicknening,

washouts, rolls, swillieys etc

• They have also been disturbed by igneous intrusion like dyke and sills.

• Coal seam structure and abnormalities are major factors influencing choice
of mining method.

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 FAULTS
• Almost all coal seams suffered break in continuity and displacement due to
faulting.
• Faults weaken the coal seam roofs, induced stresses, and may be the locales
of heavy water inrushes or gas flows.It may throw the coal seams vertically
up/down or displace it horizontally.
• Throw may vary from a few centimeters to several hundred meters.
• rocks in the roof and floor may be highly fractured and sheared near the
fault, which can weaken roof strata along the fault, leading to potential roof
falls. Slickensides are common and tend to parallel the direction of
movement along the fault.
• Gas, and water can migrate along faults. If gas (methane), and water enter
the mine along faults, these can obviously hinder mining and be safety
concerns
• Coals may split or change thickness across faults

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❑ Normal Faults
• Dislocation in which hangingwall is displaced downwards relative to footwall.
❑ Reverse Faults:
• Resverse faults is opposite of normal faults. In Reverse faults the hangingwall is
displaced upwards relative to the footwall.

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 FOLDS

• Folding is another common phenomenon to which coal seam have been

subjected.
• Folds exhibits two features: anticline and syncline.
• Anticline is an upwardly convex flexure, and a syncline is a downwardly
convex flexure.
• Folds changes the local gradient of the coal seams. At syncline, if seam is
water bearing, water gets accumulated during mining due to downwardly
convex flexure,
• Both at anticline and syncline portion, the strata get fractured and becomes
weak due to bending.
• At anticline, the upper layers of seam are subjected to tensile stress and
lower layers are subjected to compressive stress due to bending of the seam
and at syncline, the lower layers are subjected to compressive stress and
upper layers are subjected to tensile.
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• Due to high stress concentration at anticlines and synclines, pillars become
weak.
• Local variation in gradient also sometimes pose difficulty in transportation.

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 CLEATS AND SLIPS

Coal seams exhibits fractures like cleats, slips and riders.

Cleats:
• Cleats are naturally occurring orthogonal joints in coal ( natural fracture)
• Cleat fractures are usually found in bituminous coals.
• There are usually three sets of cleats approximately at right angle to each other.
• Two sets which are perpendicular to bedding plane are prominent and coal parts easily
along these cleats.
• The third set which is less prominent is parallel to bedding planes.
Slips:
• Slips are surfaces of parting diagonal to the seam.
• They are clear cut fractures, sometimes slickensides.
• The coal around slips is weak and need heavy supporting.

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 WASHOUTS

• Washouts are those areas where the coal has been partly or totally replaced non-
carboniferous sediments.
• They are formed during or soon after formation of the concerned coal seams.
• In washout the coal may be totally absent.
• The rocks associated with washouts are predominantly sandstone, conglomerates and
siltstone.

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 SEAM SPLITS
• Sometimes a thick seam get splitted into two or more layers separated by wedge like or
circular masses of interseam strata.
• In the sandstone deposits between the splits, coal lenticles and wisp of cannal type coal
often occur.
• Sometimes a seam may exhibit multiple splitting.

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 DIRT BANDS OR PARTINGS

• A thin stratum of shale or other inorganic rock material in a coal seam are called dirt
bands.

• The thickness of dirt bands may vary from a few centimeters to a meter or so.

• When the thickness is less, they are mined along with coal seams but with thicker dirt
bands, mining techniques need to be suitably adjusted to exclude them.

• The dirt bands generally contains mudstone or shale or fireclay.

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 SILLS

• Sill are igneous intrusion which intrude in the coal seams or along the bedding planes
of interseam strata.
• They are either horizontal or inclined.
• They have a widely varying thickness and may cover large areas.
• Sills comprise mostly dolorites and are very very hard.
• If sill is found in the roof rock, they do not cave into the goaf and transfer large amount
of load on the pillars resulting in overriding of pillars which may lead to premature
failure of pillars.
• If sill is encountered in the coal seam, it is very difficult to drill and blast or machine cut
to remove it.

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 DYKES

• Dykes are wall ( vertical) like igneous intrusion which break the continuity of the coal
seam
• They are also composed of dolorites and are vey very hard.
• When a dyke is approached coal becomes
1. brighter and its lusture becomes metallic.
2. It becomes Friable and volatile matter decreases and ash content increases and
specific gravity increases.
3. At the contact surface, coal rendered very tough and highly mineralized also some time
the thickness of the seam gets reduced.

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