[6] BORD AND PILLAR METHOD OF MINING 6.1 BORD AND PILLAR MINING SYSTEM ‘Bord and pillar mining method comerisch two phases, ic, development or ‘whole working’ and depillaring o “broken working’.-Sométimes both these phases proceed simultancously. In development, pillars are formed by driving a network of galleries, of which one set is generally parallel tothe dip and the other set is parallel to the stike cutting the former at right angles. Figure 6.1 shows the basic parameters of bord and pillar mining system. tle ee E So r Figure 6:1: Basic elements of bord and pilar method of ining. 6.1.1 Classification of Bord and Pillar Mining System ‘The bord and pillar system of mining can be done in three ways, namely : 1. Develop the entire area into pillars and then extract the pillars starting from the boundary 2. Develop the area into panels and extract pillars subsequently panel-wise. This is called ‘panel system of mining. 3. “Whole” followed by “broken” working in which the mine i opened out by a few headings only and thereafter development and depillaring go on simultaneously stating from the boundary. Development of entre area followed by pillar extraction ‘Te fiat system (Figure 62) i tractive in that more number of working faces can be made available and thus more numberof miners can be given employment. Large output can be quickly built up. Inthe pas this system was practised widely in Indian mines and in certain mines with very few coal cuting machines high outputs were obtained. But this system has the following, isudvantages: Scanned with CamScanner‘Berd and Pilar Method of Mining Figure 6.2: Develpmer fei a loved by eacton pa, (0 Atte plas have stand fra lng ine before thy ae extracted paling aes place tod tiny get weakened. Contequenty thy nny Et cused ad ere isthe Hak of premature cilaps, Ci) Venton maybe hgh ue o get percentage of ir eakage. (i) Temment cal dat colon iia th) Theres prea kof re spring in he whole in. (ch Colds cnplston cao be conte: IW osc pend oughow te mine, (1 Crh and cep cao be lcd (si) The wor istered. Consequently the ouput per man hi i low Dee to tee dtadvanage hs soem snot wed ese dys. The panel system of mining In the Panel system of mining (Figure 6:3) the coal sexim is divided into a numberof panels separated from one another by solid barr of coal. This system offers the following advantages: 1 Risk of loss of coal through spontaneous heating i Himited. In the event of fire occurring, ‘the panel can be isolated from other pants of the workings. Similarly, explosions can be limited tothe panel of occurrence. ded. Scanned with CamScanner158 Principles and Practices of Modem Coal Ming Bo Est SSIES Besmed 5 M Tr Lt Y Z Cy Palwe br lp alwe fa d C i rt LEE on Figure 6.3: Pano! syciam of bord and pllar mining 3 hep an ts os) sre in ary part of he ne eared in i nuns sd lied in ~ their action, \ 4. ‘Whole’ and ‘broken’ workings can be done at the same time i.e, in one panel evelopment and in another pane! depillring can be done atthe same time. 5. Ventilation is improved. Each panel can be provided with ts separate intake and return. ‘Also numberof air stoppings canbe substantially reduced. '6. Control of subsidence is possible. By working panels of sub-critcal width, magnitude of subsidence can be reduced. 7. By suitable design using yield pillar techniques percentage extraction can be improved. ‘The main disadvantages ofthe panel rystem of mining are 1. Considerable amount of coal i lost in bariers. Generally in Indian practice roughly 20% 62. of eval is lost in the bariers. ‘The 2, More number of air erossings are required for ventilation purposes. tims 3. Each pane! must have its own independent coal cutting machine and haulage. Fliing of tech coal cutting machine from one panel tothe other panel isnot practicable, 4. Crushing of barriers may result in joining of two panels with consequest spread of fire Gf. 62. The The low it existed in any one of the panels) and delayed and sudden subsidence. “Whole” followed by “broken” workings “he creat ead, however is to operout the mine with as few headbes'as posible (ony wa thee to five) and erat tack from the boundary olen" worn’ fling the “whol” workings igure 64) in sul sie panels Tis system is super eve ols in the following bo respects one 1. Velation i ficient. Se 2 Coal dst wetment a pee Scanned with CamScannerBord and Pilar Method of Mining GE: BES scones t fot t{ttitt Figure 64: “Whole towed by "rker workings ‘With intensive machine mining high outputs can be obtained. Even in the opening out stage high ourputs can be obtained using intensive mechanisation and output per ‘man-shif (OMS) can be high. Organization is simpler. CCrsh and premature collapse of pills i a emote possibility alge can be simpler. {As the development and extraction of pillars go together, same transpor system as for development can be uted for extraction work also its erating passage. Control of ire is comparatively easy. (62. DESIGN OF BORD AND PILLAR WORKINGS “The main elements of bord and pillar workings ar the sizeof the panel the sizeof barirs; the size of pillars; and the width and height of galleries. Their design must be based on critical techno-economic analysis so a to give maximum operational efficiency and safety. 62.1 Size of the Panel “The main consideration in deciding the sie ofthe panel i the incubation period ofthe coal seam. ‘The size is so fixed thatthe entire panel can be extracted within the incubation period without the ‘occurrence of spontancous fire. This period in Indian Coalfields generally varies from 6 to 12 ‘months. The high volatile coals ofthe Raniganj coalfield have shorter incubation period and the Tow volatile coals of Sharia coalfield have longer period. For ligntes the incubation period may tbe only a few weeks. The other factor that influences the sie isthe rate at which extraction is 180m | Caving - The [MoiraRanigan| | Kojora6.3 m ee | 900 | 166m? [Caving | 60—do~ JJambacs128m | 6-8 | 225 | 40900m? | Stowing | Maximum working [peight sam [NingaiRanigani [Dishergartv2am| 15-16 | 198 |150mx150m| Caving [ean eisarm | 18 | 285 |250mx150m| Caving Rarnsagar Incine:| Gordeba I 18 | 380 | eo000-s000 | "Caving | 7 KorbaKoba—|1.2m tonnes of coat | No.5 Inctine:|King/5.98 to ‘e12 | 200-250|190mx 120 mi] Caving KothagudernGo- |8.05 m 150m x 140 m ‘ davar Valley 180 m x 155m coal Scanned with CamScannerSoc and Pilar Method of Mining Moran Pui] Ross/ 282m [iso mx 150m ‘Gosaver Valley 4-0 | Satrung/7.26 150 mx 150m ‘Sharil Khan | Misle4 m [270 mx 1607] GoavarValey ‘Kalyan Khari Nai| No. 9/263 m 155 mx 1507) | Inaine/Godavar [vatey Sometimes panel sizes are determined by strata control considerations. For example, in ‘yield pillar technique the panel size is so fixed as to cause main abutment pressure to be carried by the barriers which are made of substantial width and the pillars in the panel are made smaller so as to ‘yield’ and throw the limbs of the main pressure arch on bartiers. This way percentage extraction from a panel can be substantially increased. Accroding to Avershin (2961), the decrease in the loading of room pillars due tothe introduction of barriers does not exceed 30 per cent 622 Size of the Barrier ‘The width of the barter depends on the load which it has to carry and its strength. Greater the 25.5 m. The [XIV seam was developed along the roof in the same manner. The pillars and galleries inthe XIV ‘eam were verically above those in the XIII seam. During depillarng stage, te pillars in the XIN. ‘seam were splited and the splits were stowed with sand emplaced hydraulically leaving stocks 7.5mx 7.5 m. This operation was done in two lifts. Above the stowed pillars of XII seam, XIV stam pillars were spited andthe splits stowed with sand in the bottom lifts. Thereafer the 4.8 m ‘zction along the roof was extracted fully with stowing. The sequence of extraction of XIII and XIV seams isillostrated in Figure 6.35. In another variant the top 3.6 m section was extracted ‘with caving, The stooks were extracted in slices so thatthe exposed roof did not exceed 90 m*, This method, however, did not work well. The above techaique of extraction of pillars has given the following percentage extraction: 5% exraction in the XI seam 50% ‘se extraction in the XIV seam where full top 4.8 m coal was extracted with stowing, 65% ‘extraction in the XIV seam where top 3.6m was extracted with caving com “The working faces were supported by wooden props and chocks; the average consumption of timber being about &.49 m°/1,000 tonnes. The strata control didnot present any problem and the subsidence ofthe surface was between 5.48 and 16.45 cm, ‘At another colliery in Sharia coalfield the XIV seam (6.8m thick) and the XIII seam (5.94 m thick) occur close together witha parting of only 1.5-1.8 m. These seams were developed on bord ‘and pillar system, along the roof in the XIV seam and along the floor in the XII seam. The size Of pillars centre to centre was 305 m and the width of galleries was 3.6 m. The pillars and {alleres in the XIV seam were vertically above those in the XIII seam. Only partial extraction twas done inthe XIII seam. After development two rise to dip splits and two level splits 6.09 m wide x: 45 m high were driven in exch pillar; giving an extraction of 60%. Stooks 7.5 mx 7.5 ‘were left inthe goat, along with rof coal 1.4 m thick. Al the galleries were stowed with sand. “The XIV seam was worked in two lifts by longwall faces each lift being 3 m high leaving @ parting of 2.74 m between the lifts. The bottom face was leading the top face by 30.8 m. Both the {op and bottom goaves were stowed solid with sand. Figure 6.36 illustrates the sequence of operations. 686.8 Extraction of Pillars by Longwall Method ‘The longwall method of extraction of pillars permits concentration of workings. higher Scanned with CamScanner