Research and application of reasonable retention width of small coal pillars in fully-mechanized mining face
Zhou Yunshuai
Zhang Xiangdong
Chen Sijia
Abstract：To enhance the recovery rate of coal resources and fully promote the application of small coal pillar mining technology,the No.2307 working face of a certain mine was taken as the research object.Focusing on the issue of reasonable dimensions for small coal pillars,a combination of theoretical calculations and numerical simulations was employed to analyze the characteristics of surrounding rock stress and displacement changes when the coal pillar dimensions were set at 5,6,7,8,9,and 10 meters.Research indicates that when the width of coal pillars is set between 7 and 10 meters,the pillars exhibit good load-bearing capacity,and the overall stability of roadway is high.Taking into account both safety production and economic costs,the optimal width for small coal pillars is determined to be 7 meters.Application practice has shown that coal pillars of this width can effectively ensure the supporting effect of roadway,reduce the frequency and intensity of roof pressure,maintain the surrounding rock in a favorable stress environment,and achieve safe mining of working face.
Keywords：small coal pillarretention widthnumerical simulationstressdisplacement
Publication Date：2025-12-30
Online Publishing Date：2026-01-31(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：5( 42-46 )