Gas Evolution Principle during Gas Drainage from a Drill Hole along the Coal Seam and Reasonable Borehole Layout Spacing

[Image: see text] The efficiency of coal seam gas drainage can be further improved by the accurate mastery of the gas evolution principle during gas drainage from the drill hole along the coal seam and reasonable optimization of borehole layout spacing. Based on the actual geological conditions of the no. 2 coal seam in a coal mine in Guizhou, China, and relevant control equations, a fluid–structure interaction model of gas drainage from a drill hole along the coal seam was established in this paper. Besides, numerical simulation research on the gas evolution principle during gas drainage along the coal seam and optimization of the borehole layout spacing was carried out with the COMSOL simulation software; and these were verified in combination with the project site. The results showed that in the early stage of gas drainage the gas pressure in the area near the drill holes decreased significantly. As the gas drainage went on, the degree of influence decreased gradually. During the gas drainage from adjacent drill holes, the gas pressure in the coal body between the holes decreased rapidly, and the migration was obvious. With the increase of the spacing between the drill holes, the drainage superposition effect between these holes gradually decreased until the influence area around a single hole is independently distributed in a circle-like shape, indicating that the optimization and the reasonable spacing of the drill holes are directly related to the effect of the gas drainage. With the increase of drilling spacing, the superposition effect of extraction between the holes gradually decreased until the influence area around a single hole is independently distributed in the shape of a circle, indicating that the optimization of drilling spacing is directly related to the effect of gas drainage. The results of numerical simulation were verified by analyzing the three-dimensional map of the gas pressure during the period of gas drainage at the project site and by comparing and examining the rational borehole layout spacing of the drill hole along the coal seam. The results of this study can be used to determine the spacing of gas extraction boreholes and improve the efficiency of gas extraction in the no. 2 coal seam of a coal mine in Guizhou, China, as well as to provide a reference for the gas pressure evolution, velocity field distribution, the prediction of effective drainage area, and the selection of rational borehole layout spacing during gas drainage.