Establishment of water source discrimination model in coal mine by using hydrogeochemistry and statistical analysis: a case study from Renlou Coal Mine in northern Anhui Province, China

Abstract

The demand for energy consumption promotes to find more coal in deep underground up to 1 000 m and brings more serious situation of water disaster. As one of the major methods for water disaster control, hydrogeochemistry attracts a series of studies related to water source discrimination. In this paper, a simple method for constructing the water source discrimination model based on major ions and multivariate statistical analysis was reported using the following procedures: ① collection of data and interpretation, ② analysis of controlling factors based on the chemical composition of groundwater, ③ “pure” sample chosen, and ④ discrimination model establishment. After the processes, two functions and a diagram were established for three aquifers (the Quaternary, Coal bearing, and Taiyuan Fm.) from the Renlou Coal Mine in northern Anhui Province, China. The method can be applied in almost all coal mines and can be used for evaluating the contribution ratios if the water is collected from a mixing source.