Role of gas energy during coal outbursts

This paper presents an analytical method to explain the role of gas energy in the occurrence of coal/gas outbursts. The main thrust of the proposed method is to compare the elastic work to be done for outbursts to occur with the released potential energy which includes the strain energy stored in coal seams and the internal gas energy due to desorption and expansion of methane gas in coal seams. It has been found that the release of gas energy due to desorption of methane from the coal matrix to the pores is the major cause for the occurrence of outbursts. Further, the results of the numerical analysis have been presented to illustrate the influence of various parameters on the energy release during outbursts. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.