Backfill mining is the most environmentally friendly mining method at present, which can effectively control the surface subsidence, improve the recovery rate, and has good social and economic benefits. The purpose of this study is to solve the environmental problems caused by solid waste, combined with the rich geographical advantages of aeolian sand in the Yushenfu mining area of China. The rheological properties of the aeolian sand-fly ash-based filling slurry with different fly ash content are studied by experiments, and the strength development law of the filling body under different age and fly ash content are studied from the macroscopic and microscopic points of view. The rheological experiments showed that the increase of the amount of fly ash has a significant effect on the thixotropy, plastic viscosity, and yield stress of the filling slurry. Additionally, rheological properties of aeolian sand-fly ash-based filling slurry conform to the Bingham model. With the increase of the amount of fly ash, the performance of the filling slurry has been significantly improved. Uniaxial test and scanning electron microscope observation showed that the influence of fly ash on the strength of the filling body was mainly reflected in the late stage of maintenance, but was not obvious in the middle stage. Fly ash particles mainly bear the role of “water reduction” and a physical filling effect, which makes the filling slurry thicker and the internal structure more closely spaced. The volcanic ash reaction of fly ash is lagging behind the hydration reaction of cement; the secondary product of the delayed reaction is filled in the pores of cement hydrates, which can greatly reduce the porosity of the backfill body and increase the later strength of the backfill body. It provides a guarantee for the safe replacement of coal pillars in the working face.

Extracting aluminum from FA is an effective way to improve its utilization rate. Since aluminum oxide is found in high polymerization degree, inert substances such as mullite and sodium aluminosilicate make the reaction process difficult because of their stable chemical properties; within these highly polymerized matrices, the chemical stability of alumina typically persists across a broad temperature range from 1000 °C to over 1600 °C. To address the issue of stable mullite structure that hinders aluminum extraction, a combined acid-base method using sodium carbonate as an activating agent and hydrochloric acid at a temperature of 100 °C as a leaching agent is employed. XRD and SEM were used to analyze the phase characterization and microstructure of fly ash before and after activation and acid leaching, examining the effects of activation parameters and acid leaching parameters on the activation of FA and the aluminum extraction rate. The research results indicate that after calcination activation, mullite is transformed into zeolite, which is easily soluble in acid, and the aluminum within the activated molten material is transferred to the filtrate through acid leaching, achieving the goal of extracting aluminum. Under the activating conditions with sodium carbonate flux, the Al-O bonds in mullite are broken, the crystal structure is transformed, and the aluminum compounds obtained from hydrochloric acid leaching have a stable form of existence, which has a low impact on the error of the experimental results. When the material ratio of fly ash to sodium carbonate is 1:0.7, after reacting at a calcination temperature of 880 °C for 1.5 h, and leaching in 6 mol/L hydrochloric acid at 100 °C with a solid-liquid ratio of 1:6 for 2 h, the extraction rate of aluminum in fly ash is the highest, reaching 97%.

Filling mining is an important direction in green coal mining. In the filling site, a layered filling body can be formed due to technological problems. In this paper, we take Shanghe Coal Mine (Shaanxi Province, China) as the background. In order to explore the mechanical properties and failure modes of layered backfill, specimens with different layered proportions (1:1, 1:3, 3:1) were made and studied concerning the aspects of wave velocity, porosity, strength and failure modes. The experimental result demonstrates that with the increase of curing time and fly ash (FA) content, the porosity of ASPLB decreases, the wave velocity and the strength increases. In addition, the layered structure has a significant effect on the strength and failure mode of the specimen. Uniaxial compression experiments showed that after 28 days of curing with Ratio III, the strength of layered backfill (LB) was reduced by 14% and the strength of 3:1 LB was increased by 16.7% and 40% compared with 1:1 LB and 1:3 LB, respectively. A digital speckle experiment showed that the failure mode of ASPLB is a vertical fracture without penetration, and the fracture propagation of layered ASPLB is hindered by the stratification. Based on the above research, the scheme that meets the requirements of the Shanghe Coal Mine is determined, and its reliability is verified, providing guidance for scientific stratification and the filling of gob.

This study synthesized lightweight hydrophobic silica aerogel blocks from fly ash using a sol-gel method combined with surface-modified ambient pressure drying. The effects of alkali fusion temperature and hydrochloric acid (HCl) concentration on aerogel properties were systematically investigated. After drying, sieving, and compositional analysis of the fly ash, sodium hydroxide (NaOH) fusion and calcination were conducted under varying conditions, followed by acid leaching with HCl at different concentrations. Experimental results demonstrated that NaOH quantity and calcination temperature directly influenced product yield, while HCl concentration critically affected aerogel structure and performance. Optimal conditions were achieved at a fly ash-to-NaOH mass ratio of 1:1.2 and an HCl concentration of 4 mol/L. Under these parameters, the aerogel exhibited a homogeneous and dense chain-like structure, with a specific surface area of 384.61 m²/g, pore volume of 0.36 cm³/g, and average pore diameter of 3.28 nm. Characterization via SEM, TEM, BET, FTIR, and XPS confirmed a uniform three-dimensional network structure, excellent hydrophobicity, and thermal stability. The proposed inexpensive approach produces silica aerogel with superior properties. The preparation conditions of alkali melting and acid leaching of fly ash also provide guiding assistance for industrial production methods.

In order to investigate the compression damage characteristics of the “interface section coal pillar–backfill body (ICPF)” composite structure formed after coal pillar excavation and gangue material backfill in the key technologies of coal pillar excavation and gangue material backfill replacement in the interface section of thick coal seams, an ICPF single-axis compression damage experiment under different internal dimensions of backfill was conducted using the PFC^2D numerical model, with the interface section coal pillar of a working face at a certain mine in northern Shaanxi Province as the research background. In addition, the stress–strain state, peak strength characteristics, damage mode, energy evolution, and damage characteristics of the ICPF composite were analyzed, and models for the evolution of the ICPF elastic modulus and compressive strength were established. The results showed that the stress–strain state of the ICPF changed from brittle to ductile as backfill strength decreased. The distribution of the elastic modulus is primarily influenced by backfill strength, and as the excavation–backfill width increases, the curve exhibits a distinct S-shaped distribution. The compressive strength decreases by up to 63.4% with an increase in excavation–backfill width and by up to 65.1% with a decrease in backfill strength. The sensitivity of compressive strength to backfill strength is greater than that to excavation–backfill width. Based on the established ICPF elastic modulus and compressive strength evolution model, the two mechanical properties were compared using model fitting, and the model fitting results were satisfactory. The ICPF exhibits three types of damage characteristics as the excavation and backfill width increases: oblique shear and tensile damage, edge coal stripping and X-shaped conjugate damage of the backfill body, and large-area plastic damage of the backfill body. By establishing a theoretical damage variable based on linear dissipation energy, damage factors can be quickly obtained from stress–strain curves. The damage curves all exhibit exponential growth, and their growth rates show certain dispersion as the excavation and backfill width increases and backfill strength decreases. Based on the brittleness index analysis of the ICPF composite, as the backfill strength decreases and excavation and backfill width increases, the brittleness index of the composite increases, and the tendency for impact increases. At an excavation and backfill width of 80 mm, rib damage tends to happen.