Publisher's Synopsis
The coal mining industry has witnessed a persistent decline in underground coal production over the years with more emphasis on opencast mining. Mining is a particularly hazardous work because of its nature and the work environment. Underground collieries are known as the most dangerous environment for mine workers in the mining industry. Most injuries, both fatal and nonfatal, occur due to roof-falls in collieries. There is a large potential for roof-fall occurrences in underground coal mines. Some other in collieries are fires and explosions, dust and gasses, confined working spaces, vibrations, repetitive work, interaction with machinery, and falls and slips. Accidents in underground collieries often impose unpredictable, high expenses on total operational costs in the form of production stoppage and reduction, workers' injuries, and potential liability claims. The trend of coal production from mines shows the decline of coal production from underground mines. Since the near-surface coal deposits are becoming exhausted at an alarming rate, augmenting production from underground coal mines has now become the priority of the coal industry in view of the increasing coal demand and growing awareness towards sustainable development. In order to meet the coal demand, a number of actions are being taken by mining companies to increase production from the existing mines and through the introduction of new technologies. This 1st volume of Encyclopaedia of Advances in Rock Mechanics in Underground Coal Mining features a number of real cases that show good and poor mining situations in order to demonstrate the application of the established principles in practice. This book brings together studies improving the efficiency of various operations carried out during the coal extraction process for improving productivity of underground coal mines. Innovative methods for side discharge loader (SDL) cable handling which will lead to a significant increase in the productivity have also been proposed in this book. Efficiency of drilling activities for methane gas recovery from coal seams with horizontal bore holes at underground coal mines depends on many factors including the mine gas draining borehole layout at the roadways, gas content in the coal beds, technologies for mine gas draining boring activities, and so on.
