Abstract
Water-conserving mining is an effective way to alleviate the contradiction between fragile ecological environment and high-intensity coal mining in the arid and semi-arid region of northwest China. It needs to consider the engineering and geological conditions, hydrogeological conditions and mining methods of coal seams. From the three aspects, this paper systematically analyzes the influencing factors and establishes an identification model with multi-level structures. The model includes three primary factors (including the engineering and geological conditions, hydrogeological conditions and mining methods), nine secondary factors (including overlying strata thickness, aquiclude, mining parameters and etc.), sixteen third-tier factors (including the faults, aquiclude thickness and effective mining height and etc.) and twelve fourth-tier factors (including the fault throw exponent, aquiclude permeability and coal pillar sizes and etc.). On the basis, the analytic hierarchy process is used to build the judgment matrix and obtain the weight of each influencing factor. The results indicate that the overlying strata thickness, aquiclude and effective mining height are the most important factors among the primary factors of engineering and geological conditions, hydrogeological conditions and mining methods, respectively. The research results could provide theoretical references for the water-conserving mining of coal resources in northwest China.
Highlights
The northwest region is China’s major coal-production region (Gu 2015)
Water-conserving mining is an effective way to alleviate the contradiction between fragile ecological environment and high-intensity coal mining in the arid and semi-arid region of northwest China
The results indicate that the overlying strata thickness, aquiclude and effective mining height are the most important factors among the primary factors of engineering and geological conditions, hydrogeological conditions and mining methods, respectively
Summary
The northwest region is China’s major coal-production region (Gu 2015). During the ‘Eleventh Five-Year Plan’ period, 13 national key constructed large coal bases are mainly in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia and Ningxia areas with fragile ecological environment and serious soil and water loss (Miao et al 2009). The above-mentioned researches have made important contributions in water-conserving mining in areas with fragile ecological environment. They have improved the theoretical basis of water-conserving mining, supplemented the technology system and broadened the concept of water-conserving mining. These researches have pointed out the factors that must be considered during the water-conserving mining. Wang et al (2010) has divided the spatial relations between the coal and the aquifer (aquifuge) based on overlying strata thickness, mining height, aquifer thickness, aquifuge thickness, water-physical properties and etc. The above-mentioned researches have analyzed the influencing factors of water-conserving mining from different perspectives. The results could provide references for the water-conserving mining of coal mines in northwest China
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: International Journal of Coal Science & Technology
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
