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Underground coal mining leads to land subsidence, which, in turn, results in damage to buildings and infrastructure, disturbs the original ecological environment, and hinders the sustainable development of coal mining cities. A reasonable estimation of land subsidence, on the other hand, is the foundation for building protection, land reclamation, and ecological environment reconstruction. However, when we applied the existing land subsidence estimation theory to the deep mining areas of the Ordos coalfield in western China, there was a significant deviation between the estimations and the measurements. To explain such unusual case, we propose using the overburden's average GSI (Geological Strength Index) value instead of the compressive strength (UCS) of rock specimens for a better representation of the overburden's overall properties. By using on-site subsidence monitoring results and historical data, we provided evidence which supports that the overburden's average GSI value has a much greater impact on subsidence rates than the UCS. Subsequently, we investigated the relationship between three typical overburden's GSI values and the subsidence rates via a calibrated numerical model, revealing the variation patterns of maximum surface subsidence when the overburden's average GSI value is set at 30, 50, and 75, respectively. Finally, on the basis of the measured and simulated results, we discussed a non-conventional strip mining method for mining subsidence control in the deep mining areas of the Ordos coalfield in western China, and explained why it is possible and what are the significant advantages behind. The proposed methods, findings, and suggestions in this paper are therefore quite helpful for researchers and engineers who wish to estimate and control the mining-induced land subsidence, as well as for those who are particularly interested in the study of environment science related to land subsidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, production system (PS) of shale oil is optimized according to production data and indoor experiments, including core and fluid tests. Results showed that: ① Pressure drop rate at wellhead is a reasonable reference for the determination of post-fracture shut-in duration (PFSID). When pressure at a wellhead of horizontal well is relatively stable and the pressure drop less than 0.1 MPa per day for three consecutive days, PFSID ends; ② Flowback intensity of fracturing fluid affects the effectiveness of proppant underground, thus flowback intensity can be determined by the critical flow rate and safety factor of each proppant; ③ Flowback intensity should be varied during different development stages, which could be divided into four according to production gas and oil ratio(GOR) of a shale oil horizontal well: low, medium–high, high and high-low production GOR. During the stage of low production GOR, ratio of flow pressure and saturation pressure should be maintained greater than 1.0, and the initial daily liquid productivity for a hundred-meter oil-bearing lateral length in a horizontal well is 2.4 ~ 2.9 m3/d; and during the medium–high production GOR, high production GOR and high-low production GOR stages, the responding initial daily liquid productivity should be maintained between 0.8 ~ 1.0 or less than 0.8 respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]