Borehole leakage is an important cause of gas extraction failure. In order to study the influence mechanism of borehole leakage on gas extraction, the borehole air leakage mode was studied, and a mathematical model was established to describe the borehole air leakage of the gas extraction. In addition, this paper also analyzed the change rules of borehole air leakage and gas extraction effect at different borehole sealing depth, negative extraction pressure, degree of fracture development and borehole sealing quality. Research shows that: (1) The hole sealing depth has a certain influence on the borehole air leakage and the gas extraction effect. As the hole sealing depth increased, the borehole air leakage gradually decreased. Moreover, the net amount of gas extraction gradually decreased, but the gas extraction concentration increased to some extent, and the increasing range gradually decreased. The reasonable sealing depth of this coal seam was 9∼10 m. (2) The negative pressure of borehole extraction has little influence on borehole air leakage and gas extraction. With the increase of the negative extraction pressure, the gas extraction net amount and borehole air leakage both increased, but the gas extraction concentration decreased. In the later stage of the gas extraction, the negative pressure can be properly reduced to improve the gas extraction effect. (3) The borehole sealing quality has a great influence on the borehole air leakage and gas extraction effect. With the improvement of the sealing quality, the coal-rock permeability gradually decreased. Moreover, the borehole air leakage significantly reduced, and the gas extraction concentration increased significantly. Therefore, attention should be paid to the selection and improvement of sealing materials and sealing techniques in the actual production so that the airtightness and sealing quality of the hole sealing section can be improved.

The characteristics and heterogeneity of coal pores are crucial for understanding the production mechanism of coalbed methane (CBM). In this study, coal samples with varying degrees of metamorphism (0.58% ≤ R_O, _max≤ 3.44%) were collected. The characteristics of pore development and the heterogeneous properties of pores were revealed through low-temperature nitrogen adsorption (LTNA) and low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments. The results indicate that pores with varying diameters exhibit favorable development in low-rank coals, along with favorable pores connectivity. The micropores composition of middle-rank coals was found to be 73.56%, however, the connectivity among transitional, meso, and macropores was observed to be poor. In high-rank coals, the proportion of micropores was 92.74%, with numerous micropores being closed or semi-closed. This resulted in inferior connectivity between micropores and transitional pores. As coal metamorphism progressed, the D_L1 (characterizing the roughness of adsorption pores (AP) surface, ranging from 2.13 to 2.45) and D_L2 (characterizing the complexity of AP structure, ranging from 2.56 to 2.77) initially decreased and then increased, whereas the D_N (characterizing the heterogeneity of seepage pores (SP), ranging from 2.92 to 2.95) consistently improved. Furthermore, the roughness of pore surface and the complexity of pore structure in AP increased as the specific surface area and volume of pores increased. On the contrary, as the SP content increased, the uniformity of the pore structure improved. When the volume of SP remained constant, the complexity of the pore structure decreased due to increased pore connectivity.

To study the effects of the three deformation instability modes of gas drainage borehole on gas drainage, the deformation instability mechanism of soft coal seams is analyzed, three deformation instability modes are proposed for soft coal seams, namely, complete holes, collapse holes, and plug holes, and a solid‐fluid coupling model incorporating dynamic change of borehole suction pressure is established. The results of the study show the following. (1) When there is no borehole deformation (i.e., complete borehole), the suction pressure loss of drainage system in the borehole is very small, whose effect on gas drainage can be neglected. (2) In case of borehole collapse, the suction pressure loss is big at the collapse segment, and the total suction pressure loss of the drainage system in the borehole is bigger than that in the complete hole. However, it is smaller than the suction pressure of the drainage system and exerts limited effect on gas drainage. As the borehole collapse deteriorates, the effective drainage section of the borehole becomes smaller, while the suction pressure loss in the borehole increases continuously; thus, the gas drainage effect continuously worsens. (3) In case of plug hole, a continuous medium forms between the plug segment coal body and the surrounding coal seam, the plug segment drainage pressure turns into coal‐bed gas pressure, and effective drainage length of the borehole shortens, seriously affecting the gas drainage effect. The study carries important theoretical guiding significance for improving gas drainage effect and effectively preventing gas disasters.

Acidizing technology is an important means to increase production in oil-gas reservoirs. In recent years, acidizing technology has been widely used to increase the permeability of coal seams to enhance gas extraction, where acidizing fluid is the key factor to determine the permeability improvement effect by acidizing technology. In order to clarify the influence of mixed acid fluid on the pore structure of high rank coal and seek the optimal mixed acid fluid suitable for acidizing and permeability improvement of high rank coal in the Jiaozuo coal mine area. Taking the Jiulishan Mine in the Jiaozuo mining area as an example, low field nuclear magnetic resonance (LFNMR) test and static dissolution test were conducted to obtain the T ₂ spectrum, porosity, movable fluid saturation, pore throat distribution, nuclear magnetic permeability, and dissolution rate of coal samples before and after treatment with distilled water and three mixed acid fluids. On this basis, the influence of mixed acid fluid on the pore structure of high rank coal was analyzed and the optimal mixed acid fluid suitable for high rank coal was selected. The results showed that the pore size, number, and volume of all kinds of pore sizes of coal samples treated with distilled water all decreased, which was manifested by the decrease of effective porosity and nuclear magnetic permeability. After acidification, the proportion of micropore volume in coal decreased significantly, the number and proportion of pore volume of mesopores and macropore-microfractures increased significantly, and the connectivity between mesopores and macropore-microfractures was enhanced, which was characterized by the increase in effective porosity and nuclear magnetic permeability of coal samples. After acidification, the pore-throat ratio of adsorption pores of all coal samples decreased, while the pore-throat ratio of seepage pores increased. By comparatively analyzing the change law of pore structure of coal samples before and after acidizing with three kinds of mixed acid fluids, the optimal mixed acid fluid suitable for acidizing and permeability improvement of high rank coal in the Jiaozuo coal mine area was selected, which was 12%HCL +3%HF.

The development of the coal pore system is extremely significant for gas disaster prevention in coal mines and coalbed methane exploitation. To accurately, quantifiable, and non-destructively characterize the coal pore system, the relationship between total porosity, effective porosity, pore size distribution, and resistivity of coals with different degrees of metamorphic was studied by resistance test and low field NMR techniques. The dimensionless parameter ρ_P that characterize the coal pore system was defined by the variety of resistivity in dry and saturated conditions. The achieved results are presented as follows: (1) The greater the ρ_P (the influence of the coal pore system on the conductivity), the larger the total porosity; (2) The proportion of effective pores increased linearly with the addition of the ρ_P; (3) The proportion of micropores and small pores decreased linearly as the ρ_P increased, revealed that these pores had poor connectivity and complicated structure, and had a significant negative effect on the conductivity of saturated coal. (4) The proportion of mesopores and macropores gained linearly as the ρ_P increased, indicated these pores had well connectivity, and had a positive influence on the conductivity. The results showed that the variety of coal resistivity from dry to the saturated condition was mainly controlled by the pore system. Therefore, a new method to characterize the coal pore system was proposed, which was exceedingly effectively, conveniently, and non-destructively.