Risk Evaluation of Bed-Separation Water Inrush: A Case Study in the Yangliu Coal Mine, China.

Water that accumulates in the void space where overburden strata separate can be an inrush source. We established an engineering geology model of bed-separation water inrush, and chose five factors (hard rock thickness, coal seam thickness, aquifuge thickness, aquifer thickness and hydrostatic head) as risk factors. Additionally, based on an analysis of hydrogeological and engineering geological conditions at two areas in the Yangliu coal mine, the comprehensive weight values of these factors were found to be 0.32, 0.24, 0.18, 0.15, and 0.11, respectively, using fuzzy analytic hierarchy process and entropy method. Finally, the data were normalized, and a zoning map for risk evaluation was created using the space superposition function of GIS. This method was further used to evaluate the risk at the Haizi coal mine, and the results were in accordance with an inrush disaster that occurred at the 745 working face at that mine. This validated the model’s practical applications. This provides mines with strategies to prevent and control bed-separation water inrush. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]