A Thermal-Hydrological-Mechanical-Chemical Coupled Mathematical Model for Underground Coal Gasification with Random Fractures

Abstract

In this paper, in order to understand the development process and influencing factors of coal underground gasification, taking the two-dimensional underground gasification area of the plane as the simulation object, the characteristics of the multi-physical field coupling process of exudate mass heat transfer and combustion gasification reaction in the process of horizontal coal seam underground gasification are analyzed, and a two-dimensional mathematical model of thermal-hydrological-mechanical-chemical coupling of a porous medium is established. The temperature distribution of coal rock from the gasification point, the distribution of gas water vapor pressure and stress-strain, the temperature contour distribution of fractured coal rocks of different densities of heterogeneity, and the influence of different water-oxygen ratios and different fractured coal rocks on the gas components generated by the gasification reaction were studied. The results show that the tensile damage caused by the tensile strain volume expansion of the coal underground gasification center, the shear damage caused by the compression of the edge compressive strain volume, and the temperature conduction rate decrease with the increase in the coal rock fracture, but in the heterogeneous coal rock, the greater the fracture density, the faster the temperature conduction rate, which has a certain impact on the gasification combustion reaction. The ratio of CO2, H2 and CO in the case of simulating that the water-to-oxygen ratio is 1:2, 1:1, and 2:1 is 1:0.85:0.73, 1:1.1:0.97, and 1:1.76:1.33, respectively. At a water-oxygen ratio of 2:1, the concentration ratio is the most ideal, and the main gases, CO, CO2, and H2, are 32%, 21%, and 37%. Furthermore, the reaction rate increases with the increase of fracture density. The gas component concentration simulated in this paper has good consistency with the results of the previous experimental data, which has important guiding significance for the underground coal gasification project.