Establishment and analysis of thermo-hydro-mechanical coupling similarity criteria for compressed air energy storage process in abandoned coal mines
ZHANG Bing
WANG Hanpeng
YUAN Liang
DU Qianzi
FAN Jianguo
SUI Jiancai
LI Mengtian
Abstract：The similarity criterion is the theoretical basis for the development of similar materi-als,the determination of test conditions,and the inversion of test data in underground engi-neering similarity simulation tests.To achieve a thermo-hydro-mechanical coupling similar simulation of the process of compressed air energy storage in abandoned coal mines,a mathe-matical model of thermo-hydro-mechanical coupling followed by high-pressure air and gas stor-age chambers was constructed based on the basic structure and working mode of the gas stor-age chamber,and the similarity criteria were derived via the equation analysis method.The a-nalysis results reveal that there is no obvious conflict between the various similarity indicators,which can be used to determine the specific similarity scales of physical field related parame-ters,gas and solid related physical property parameters.Among them,the similarity scales of stress,gas pressure,temperature,and time are associated with multiple similarity indicators,and their determination is key.In the geometric scaling model test,due to the similarity simu-lation ability of temperature and gas property parameters,a similar system composed of gas,sealing material,and support material consistent with the prototype can ensure the dynamic similarity between the prototype and the model,but the time needs to be synchronously scaled.It is recommended to use a geometric similarity scale of 1/10 to 1/50 for the current size of compressed air energy storage tanks in abandoned mines,which can better balance the cost,difficulty,and safety of testing.
Keywords：abandoned coal minescompressed air energy storagethermo-hydro-mechanical couplingequation analysis methodsimilarity criteriasimilar system
Publication Date：2025-07-30
Online Publishing Date：2025-08-15(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：11( 743-753 )