Study on Effective Extraction Radius of Directional Long Borehole and Analysis of the Influence Mechanism

[Image: see text] To accurately determine the effective extraction radius of directional long drilling, the influence of the negative pressure of the hole mouth, the drilling diameter, and the drilling length of the hole on the effective extraction radius of a directional long drilling hole is simulated by establishing a coal-to-gas gas-structure coupling model considering the Klinkenberg effect. Finally, the reliability of the numerical simulation is verified through field testing in Yuxi Coal Mine. The results reveal that the attenuation of negative pressure in a directional long borehole along a long hole has a significant influence on the gas extraction effect. The radial gas pressure of the extraction drilling hole is distributed in a “V” shape when the negative pressure of the extraction decays along the direction of the hole length. The higher the negative pressure and the longer the diameter of the drilling hole, the higher is the gas extraction effect. The effective extraction radius is exponentially related to the drilled hole depth when the negative pressure of extraction is attenuated along the long hole direction. The negative pressure of the hole and the diameter of the borehole are linearly related to the effective extraction radius at the depth of drilling hole of 430 m. Through field tests, while extracting for 180 days based on the stubble pressing effect, the effective extraction radius of the directional long borehole of the No. 3 coal seam of Yuxi Coal Mine is 5.7 m, and the absolute error between the numerical simulation is 0.1 m. In addition, the gas pressure obtained from different sampling points is consistent with the numerical simulation. The relative error is 0.3–4.1%. The results provide a theoretical basis for the rational layout of directional drilling.