Coal Mining

PME 363
Coal Mining is the term that encompasses the physical extraction or
removal of coal from the Earth’s Surface.
When coal is used as fuel in power generation, it is referred to as Steaming
or Thermal coal while those which are used to create coke for steel
manufacturing is referred to as Coking or Metallurgical Coal.
Coal can be mined by both Surface and Underground Mining methods.
it is universally accepted that coal is originated from vegetable matter and
its evolution followed a continuous change.
From the vegetable matter peat, lignite, bituminous coal and anthracites
were formed in the order.
 Types of coal

• 4 Main Types of Coal

– Anthracite
• Carbon content between 86 and 98 percent. Heat value of about
15,000 BTUs/lb.
– Bituminous
• Carbon content between 45 and 86 percent. Heat value of 10,500 to
15,500 BTUs/lb.
– Subbituminous
• Carbon content between 35 and 45 percent. Heat value of 8,300 to
13,000 BTUs/lb.
– Lignite
• Carbon content between 25 and 35 percent. Heat value of 4,000 to
8,300 BTUs/lb.
 Early usage of mining and
commercialization
• The earliest archeological evidence we have of coal is surface mining in
China at approximately 3490 BC.

– Mining operations were localized and limited to coal that could be

easily found very close to the surface.

• The first major coal mining operation was begun by Britain during the
Industrial Revolution.

– As international trade spread, the concept of large scale coal

industries spread to the rest of Europe, North America, and Japan.

– Resultingly, coal became cheaper and much more efficient than

wood.

• By 1850, the US had a large industry that had mined 8.4 million short
tons of coal in a single year.
 In Wales there is archaeological evidence of using coal in funeral pyres in
bronze age, some 3000-4000 years ago.
Coal was mined in colonial America in the early 1700s and commercial
mining first occurred around 1730 in Midlothian, Virginia.
Coal cutting machine were invented in the 1880s. Before the invention, coal
was mined from underground with a pick and shovel.
In 1900 about 95% of the world’s commercial energy was derived from coal,
4% from oil and gas and less than 1% from hydraulic sources.
With the advent of oil in the present century, the industrialized nations of
the world became more and more dependent on oil for their needs and share
of coal to meet the energy requirement felt down considerably.
But the picture again changed after the energy crisis of 1973 which resulted
in the manifold increase in the price of petroleum leading to the increased
demand for coal.
Factors Influencing The Choice of Mining
Factors influencing the choice of coal mining methods are:
1. Physical
2. Technical and
3. Economical.

The physical factors of importance are the following:

Thickness and Gradient of the seam
Depth of the seam
Structure and geological abnormalities
Mechanical properties of the coal
Characteristics of roof and floor
Gas content of the coal seam
Hydrogeological conditions of the coal measures.
The important technical and economic factors are
Availability of machines for mechanizations and development
in technology
. Economic value of the coal mined.
And finally availability of technical skill and the experiences prevailing
in a country.
 Depth of the seam:
 Coal seams occur at different depth.
 They may be outcropping or occurring at shallow depths or they may occur at
considerable depth
 When the seams are outcropping or at shallow depths they are mined by open
pit mining
 If the overburden becomes too large they are mined by underground mining
method
 Now with advancement of technology, coal seams of greater depth are mined by
open cast method.
 Shape Of The Deposit
 The seams may be
i. Regular: suitable for conventional or hydraulic mining
ii. Undulating or: present difficulties for conventional mining. Hydraulic mining
can be applied for such seams
iii. Contorted
 Seams which occur as ponds can be worked by open pit mining method
 Thickness Of The Seam
Jeremic has put coal seams in four groups according to their thickness
i) Very thin 0.3 to 0.5
ii) Thin 0.5 to 1.5 m
iii) Medium thick 1.5 to 3.5m and
iv) thick over 3.5 m thick
 Very thin seams less 0.3 m are not considered workable by conventional
mining methods
 Coal seams 0.5 to 1.8 m thick must be worked by longwall methods
 Seams 1.8 to 3.5 m thick can be worked either by longwall or bord and
pillar method
 When the thickness of the seam is more than 4.8m slice mining bin multi
lifts on longwall pattern is the correct choice.
 Gradient Of The Seam
 Coal seams occur at varying gradients from 0-90 degree and are generally classified
as moderately or gently dipping, semi deep or steep seams.
 In thick and steep seams, horizontal slicing is the obvious choice.
 If the seam is thin and at the same time steep, the face must be worked by breast
stoping.
 In moderately thick and nearly vertical seams, mining with stowing in ascending
order may be desirable.
 In flat measures, conventional mining, bord and pillar or longwall mining is
successfull.
 Mechanical Properties Of Coal
 The mechanical and physical properties of coal, which influences the selection
of mining method are compressive strength, hardness and abrasively.
 Higher the compressive strength, the smaller pillar in a particular situation.
 Coal seams with soft coals of low compressive strength are not suitable for
working by bord and pillar methods.

 Geological Disturbances
• If too many intrusions( dykes and sills), faults, washouts occur in a coal seam
occur the continuity of the seams break and the roof becomes weak.
• With such disturbances, it is not possible to continue the longwall face.
• Bord and pillar mining in such situations becomes a practical proposition.
 Characteristics of Roof and Fall
• The longwall type of mining will present less problems under bad roof
conditions.
• With very strong roof, mining with caving presents difficulties and generally
stowing is resorted to in such cases.

 Gas Content Of Coal Seam

 In the longwall method of mining, it is easier to maintain good ventilation
and keep the face free of gas.
 Slice mining in descending order will be desirable system of mining for the
working of thick and gassy coal seams.
 Bord and pillar type mining must be avoided in highly gassy seams.
 Traditions And Availability Of Trained Personnel
• Sometimes a mining method is selected because the work people are familiar
with it only and have no experience of other methods.
• In such cases unless the work people are trained in the new method of mining,
the traditional methods continue.
 How do we get coal out of the ground?

• Surface Mining:
– Typically occurs at depths above 180 ft.
– Most common form in Wyoming

• Underground Mining
– Typically occurs at depths below 300 ft.
– Accounts for 60% of world coal production
Choice Of Coal Mining Method
• Coal seams can be mined both by underground and surface mining
methods depending on certain conditions e.g. thickness and dip of the
seam; depth of occurrence ratio of overburden to coal et.
• There are two basic underground coal mining methods. They are
i) Bord and pillar method and
ii) Longwall method
• Although the basic principles remain the same, there could be many
variants of these two methods.
• Combining the main features of both longwall and bord and pillar
methods, there is another method of mining coal seams which is known
as “shortwall method’ of mining.
 Surface Mining is used for about 40% of coal production in the world.
 Ore bodies close to the surface at depths less than approximately 180 ft (50
m), are usually surface mined.
 Coal that occurs at depth of 180 to 300 ft (50 to 100m) is usually deep mined
but, surface mining techniques can be used.
a) Strip Mining:
It is one of the open cast mining methods with a high degree of mechanization
employing either power shovel or a combination of dragline and power shovels
for striping the overburden.
The overburden to coal ratio may be as low as 1:12 upto a depth of 30 or 50 ft
or 1:15 where the overburden is about 90 ft.
If the overburden is very thin, being only a few feet and conditions are
favorable then stripping can be managed with bulldozers.
In this method single stripping shovels and single draglines are use to remove
coal.
It is commonly practiced in the U.S.A.
Fig. Strip Mining
b). Slice Mining::
In slice mining method, a coal seam is divided into slices of suitable thickness
and individual slices are worked.
The common types in slice mining are inclined slicing, horizontal slicing and
diagonal slicing.
Slice may be taken in both ascending order and descending order or in
mixed order
c). Horizon Mining::
This method is adopted in case of very highly disturbed areas where the
coal measures have been folded and faulted.
It is the system of mining which consist of more than one level and the
coal seam are opened up by the level roads driven in the rock.
This method can be employed with advantage in highly disturbed areas
where a no. of coal seam is known to occur.
It is commonly practiced in Germany, France and Belgium.
 Underground mining

• Underground mining is used when the coal is buried several hundred

feet below the surface or more.
• Miners use heavy machinery to cut out the coal and transport it to the
surface using conveyor systems.
• Deep Underground Mining is needed when coal seams are found too
deep underground. 60% of the world coal production is mined by
underground mining method.

• Bord and Pillar method, Longwall method and short wall method are
the most commonly used mining method.
1). Bord and Pillar method:
The Bord and Pillar method of mining coal seam involve the driving of a
series of narrow heading in the seams parallel to each other.
These headings are connected by cross headings so as to form pillars for
subsequent extraction either partially or completely.
Ideally the pillar should be square but they are sometimes rectangular or of
rhombus shape and the galleries surrounding the pillars are invariably of
square cross section.
The method is best suited to work flat coal seams of 1.8 to 3 m thickness at
shallow depth.
The bord and pillar system of mining can be done in three ways, namely:
a. Develop the entire area into pillars and then extract the pillars starting from
the boundary
b. Develop the area into panels and extract pillars subsequently panel wise. This
is called panel system of mining.
c. “Whole” followed by “broken” workings in which the mine is opened out by
a few headings only and thereafter development and depillaring go on
simultaneously starting from the boundary.
junction
gallery

gallery
gallery
pillar

gallery
2. Longwall Method::
There are two types of long wall methods of mining.
a). Longwall Advancing:
It involves the extraction of panel of coal to be worked by advancing the face
forward on a wide front leaving behind the roadways serving it.
b). Longwall retreating::
In case of longwall retreating, the face is retreated
on the roadways driven before opening out the face
and as the face is retreated backwards, the Goaf is
allowed to cave in or it is filled and gate roadway is
lost in the Goaf.
This method can be employed almost in all
geological conditions, though it is eminently suited
for working thinner seams.
3). Short wall method::
This is variant of longwall and bord and pillar method in which the length
of face is much smaller than normal with longwall mining and the short wall
was developed to employed the usual room and pillar equipment but with
geometric simplicity and advantages of self advancing hydraulic roof
support.
This method incorporates the advantage and disadvantage of both board
and pillar method and longwall method.
Latest Technique

Extended application of open cast mining method, long wall mining methods,
particularly advanced technology mining (ATM) faces and automations.
Increased level of mechanization and adaptation of various technique of
thick seam mining developed abroad.
Hydraulic Mining Methods
Underground Gasification of Coal
Evolution of suitable techniques for the control of strata and subsidence and
for the protection of environment
Increasing application of computer in mine planning and mining operations.
Hydraulic Mining Of Coal:
Hydraulic mining of coal comprises two operations. They are
- Hydraulic cutting of coal from seam and
- Hydraulic transport of the resultant mixture of coal and water from
the mined.
 Hydraulic Breaking Down of Coal
Coal is broken down by a high pressure water jet against the face, the pressure
being increased or decrease according to the hardness of the seam.
The minimum pressure 𝑃𝑒𝑓 necessary for effective breaking down of coal ranges
from 10 to 20 MN and water discharged from 200 to 500 m3/hr depending on the
coal conditions and coal hardness.
For effective breaking down of coal 𝑃𝑒𝑓 = 50f atm. Where f = Protodyakonov index
 Hydraulic Transport
Hydraulic transport of broken coal is done in three ways, they are
1.. Along the floor
2.. In flumes
3.. In pipe ranges
Conditions Suitable For Hydraulic Mining Of Coal
Generally the conditions which influence the choice of this system are:
 Seam thickness: could be done in any seam thickness but in seams of average to
high thickness this economy offers better economics.
 Seam gradient: the seam gradient should be such that the coal-water slurry can
flow out easily. A practical gradient using steel flumes is about 7𝑜 .
 Roof of the seam: The roof should be sufficiently stable so as to allow extraction
of coal from under it before it collapses.
 Floor of the seam: the seam floor should retain its strength when wetted.
 Hardness of coal: the coal seam should be soft or ploughable and be free of dirt
bands of any importance. Presence of cleavages can increases hydro breaking
productivity 8 times.
 Coal Liquefaction
Here are two of several ways: Direct, and Indirect

 Direct liquefaction – involves the introduction of hydrogen gas and catalysts

into finely crushed coal to produce synthetic crude oil. Need temperatures of
430-450*C and pressures of 50 to 25 MPA. Hydrogen is needed to remove the
oxygen sulfur and nitrogen. The product of direct liquefaction must still be
refined to gasoline or diesel.

 Indirect liquefaction – first converted to gas through gasification. Then

methanol synthesis is used to convert the coal gas into methanol, then the
methanol can either be directly converted to gasoline, or it can be used as fuel
in and of itself.
Estimation Of Coal Reserve
One of the most important objectives of exploration.
The basic of calculations of all coal reserve is the geological map and the data
available from the same.
The latest available geological map should be used in each case.
Reserves are reported according to
(A) the amount of overburden on the coal
(B) According to the depth from the surface and
(C) According to the thickness of the seams
 Reserves in virgin seams are calculated in the case of flat seams on the
basis of the area, the thickness of the coal seams
 In case of seams dipping at an angle greater that 5𝑜 , the product obtained
by multiplying the area and the thickness of the seam is multiplied by the
secant of the dip of the seams.
 In computing thickness of the seams, all bands (if they exist) in excess of 5
cm are excluded and only seams 0.5 m and above are taken into
computation.
 Seams less than 0.5 m thick are ignored.