Non-steady state gas emission processes in blind shear stopes in potash mines

A full-scale experiment is carried out to study time history of gas conditions at different points in blind shear stopes in potash mines. The full-scale investigations included continuous dynamic measurements taken in various operating modes of shearing and ventilating equipment. The measurements were taken in 3 cross-sections of a shear stope (microzones): 1–breathing zone of shearer’s operator; 2–zone of main foul air outflow from the face zone (midpoint of the stope); 3–the stope mouth (classic point of ventilation control in a blind stope). The dynamic measurements of poison and combustible gases were taken at 11 shearing facilities at the Verkhnekamsk potassium–magnesium salt deposit. The meterage show that the resultant time curves of gas emission concentrations demonstrate an exponential behavior during intermittent operation of the shearing machine system. For another thing, when the shear capacity is increased by 3 times (from 1 t/min to 3 t/min), the gas concentration grows by 5–6 times. This fact can enable a sound estimate of air quantity required for the face area ventilation in case of time-varying gas emission. The knowledge on non-steady state air flow in blind stopes in potash mines can further help develop an algorithm of the dynamic ventilation control at longwall faces for the airing monitoring and adjustment in individual operating areas. 

Maltsev S. V., Fainburg G. Z., Semin M. A., Kozunin I. I. Non-steady state gas emission processes in blind shear stopes in potash mines. MIAB. Mining Inf. Anal. Bull. 2026;(6):5-19. [In Russ]. DOI: 10.25018/0236_1493_2026_6_0_5.

The study was supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, R&D state registration no. 126012716039-2).

S.V. Maltsev¹, Cand. Sci. (Eng.), Head of Sector, e-mail: st.v.maltsev@ya.ru, ORCID ID: 0009-0002-9887-1455,
G.Z. Fainburg¹, Dr. Sci. (Eng.), Professor, Chief Researcher, e-mail: faynburg@mail.ru, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-9599-7581,
M.A. Semin¹, Dr. Sci. (Eng.), Head of Laboratory, e-mail: mishkasemin@gmail.com, ORCID ID: 0000-0001-5200-7931,
I.I. Kozunin¹, Engineer, e-mail: ilya.kozunin@yandex.ru, ORCID ID: 0009-0000-3118-8956,
¹ Mining Institute of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 614007, Perm, Russia.

I.I. Kozunin, e-mail: ilya.kozunin@yandex.ru.

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