Predicting the producing well stability in the place of its curving at the underground coal seams gasification

Abstract

The relevant issues have been studied of ensuring the stability of producing wells in the place of their curving when uncovering the mining extracted area for the underground gas generator operation. It is emphasized that the design planning of efficient operation of underground gas generators in downhole gasification technology is impossible without consideration of the stress state of the rock massif, which can lead to a danger of the wellbore cutting and emergency shutdown of the technological system operation. The parameters of geomechanical models have been developed and substantiated for the study of the stress state of the “rock massif – producing well” system under the conditions of the Lviv-Volyn coal basin. A computer simulation has been performed of change in the stress state of a laminal massif around a well with a curvature radius in the range of 5 – 25 m with the use of the finite element method. The exponential function has been revealed of the tensile stresses value in the roof of the seam from the angle of the producing well entry into the coal seam. It is recommended the rational angle of a well entry into the coal seam, which is in the range of 21 – 28 degrees, and an appropriate curvature radius will be 5 – 10 m.