The role of gangue on the mitigation of mining-induced hazards and environmental pollution: An experimental investigation

Abstract

Gangue, produced from coal mining and washing process, is a serious threat to the ground environment. Gangue backfilling mining method can solve this problem and reduce mining-induced hazards, e.g., controlling surface subsidence and preventing water inrush from seeping into goaf by cracks in overlying strata. In this paper, effects of the original particle size distribution (PSD) and water content on the particle crushing behavior and seepage properties of granular gangues were investigated. Experimental results show that the crushing behavior can promote the compaction of gangue particles; the variation of PSD after crushing reveals distinct fractal characteristics. With the increasing compression stress, the particle crushing ratio and fractal dimension increase, while the permeability decreases. Due to the rearrangement of particles and newly generated fine particles filled the gap among larger particles, it is difficult to reduce the permeability by increasing the compressive stress. In addition, the variation of fractal dimensions is similar to the crushing ratio, so the particle crushing can be illustrated by fractal dimensions. The relationship between porosity and permeability established by the Kozeny-Carman equation can model the effect of particle crushing in this research. The reliability of the equation is verified by the comparison of model result and experimental data. To increase the mitigation rate of mining-induced hazards and environmental pollution by GBM method, granular gangues can be crushed into smaller particles and dehydrated before backfilling.