Analysis of Exploitation Parameters in Drainage Boreholes of the Longwall Demethylation System. Case Study

In hard coal mines with methane, there is often a need to apply demethylation in order to keep the methane concentration not exceeding 2% in the ventilation air. The basic demethylation method in longwall areas is through drainage boreholes made in the roof rocks of the coal bed, from top gate, in front of the longwall. The drainage boreholes are usually made in bundles, in a fan-shaped arrangement, with several boreholes in each bundle. The paper presents the results of measurements and tests of the efficiency of a bundle of four drainage boreholes drilled approximately 100 m in front of the longwall face. The efficiency of individual boreholes was analyzed in time and depending on the distance of borehole outlets from the longwall face. It was found that there is a large variation in the extraction of air-methane mixture by individual drainage boreholes, as well as large differences in the efficiency of individual drainage boreholes during the longwall extraction process.