The formation of water-conducting fractures in overlying strata caused by underground coal mining not only leads to roof water inrush disasters, but also water-conducting fractures penetrate the aquifer, resulting in the occurrence of a mine-water-inrush disaster and the loss of water resources. It destroys the sustainability of surface water and underground aquifers. This phenomenon is particularly significant in extra-thick coal seams and fault-bearing areas. Numerical simulation is an effective method to predict the failure range of mining overburden rock with low cost and high efficiency. The key to its accuracy lies in a reasonable constitutive model and simulation program. In this study, considering that the three parts of penetrating cracks, non-penetrating cracks, and intact rock blocks are often formed after rock failure, the contact state criterion and shear friction relationship of discrete rock blocks and the mixed fracture displacement–damage–load relationship are established, respectively. Combined with the Mohr–Coulomb criterion, the constitutive model of mining rock mass deformation–discrete block motion and interaction is formed. On this basis, according to the engineering geological conditions of Yushupo Coal Mine, a numerical model for the development of water-conducting cracks in the roof with faults under repeated mining of extra-thick coal seams is established. The results show the following: The constitutive relation of the continuous deformation–discrete block interaction of overlying strata and the corresponding finite element–discrete element FDEM numerical program and VUSDFLD multi-coal seam continuous mining subroutine can numerically realize the formation process of faults and water flowing fractures in overlying strata under continuous mining of extra-thick multi-coal seams. The toughness of sand mudstone is low, and the fracture will be further developed under the repeated disturbance of multi-thick coal seam mining. Finally, it is stabilized at 216–226 m, and the ratio of fracture height to mining thickness is 14.1. When the working face advances to the fault, the stress concentration occurs in the fault and its overlying rock, which leads to the local fracture of the roof rock mass and the formation of cracks. The fault group makes this phenomenon more obvious. The results have been preliminarily applied and tested in Ningwu mining area, which provides theoretical support for further development of roof water disaster control under the condition of an extra-thick coal seam and avoids the loss of water resources in surface water and underground aquifers.

The evolutions of the microstructure characteristics and the combustion reactivity of lignite during high temperature drying process at 600–800°C were addressed in the paper. The information about the oxygen functional groups, carbon skeleton, pore structure, and combustion reactivity of the lignite before and after the drying treatment was obtained by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller technique, Raman spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analyzer, respectively. The results show that a different evolutionary trend of the chemical structure of the lignite appears at the high drying temperature of 700°C at which the carbonyl, carboxyl, and carboxylate significantly decomposed and the treatment gave a slight elimination of structural imperfections and the formation of new cross-linking structures. Then, at the drying temperature of 800°C, a slight increase of the oxygen functional groups was found. The break of the aromatic ring or heterocycle contributed to the rapid increase of amorphous carbon to some extent. During the drying process, the surface area of the resulted lignite gradually increased until 700°C and then decreased. The evolution may be attributed to the decomposition of organic compounds, shrinkage forces, and thermal relaxation effect. The investigation indicates that the change in chemical nature of the coal had a greater impact on the combustion reactivity than the internal pore structure did. In addition, the combustion intensity and performance of the treated lignite was enhanced by the drying process.

The construction of underground reservoirs in coal goaf is a new technology aimed to realize the sustainable development of coal mining-water storage-surface ecology in arid areas of northwest China. The key to the feasibility of this technology is that underground coal mining cannot affect the near-surface aquifer, and the amount of water entering the underground reservoir must meet the needs of the coal mine. Taking Buertai Coal Mine, one of the largest underground coal mines in the world, as an example, this article used similar simulation, numerical simulation and in-situ test methods to study the height of the water-conducting fracture zone of overlying strata and water inflow of underground reservoirs. The results show that, under the repeated mining of the 22- and 42-coal seams, the maximum height of the water-conducting fracture zone is 178 m, and the distance between the near-surface aquifer and the 42 coal is about 240 m, so the mining has little effect on the near-surface aquifer. During the mining period of the 22-coal seam, the groundwater of the Zhidan and Zhiluo Formations was mainly discharged vertically, while the groundwater of the Yanan Formation was mainly a horizontal flow during the period of the 42-coal mining. In this way, the total water inflow of Buertai Coal Mine reaches 500 m³/h, which not only meets the needs of the mine, but also, the rest of the water can irrigate about 98 hectares of farmland nearby. Underground reservoirs in coal goaf could achieve sustainable development of coal mining, groundwater storage and surface ecology in semi-arid areas.

Roof fall is a frequent and destructive disaster in the working face of extra-thick coal seams. The important technology for disaster elimination is roof grouting, and the key to its success is to accurately predict the distance of the advanced fractures based on a reasonable rock constitutive relationship. In this paper, the constitutive relationship reflecting the progressive failure process of rock was established, including the elastic–plastic constitutive relation of intact rock, the fracture constitutive relation of non-penetrating fracture, and the shear friction constitutive relation of penetrating fracture. On this basis, the finite–discrete element method (FDEM) numerical calculation method was developed. Taking Yushupo Coal mine with a 16-m-thick coal seam as an example, the numerical results showed that the fractures in the roof appear 15~35 m ahead of the working face, and the maximum value of advance bearing pressure is between 16 and 30 MPa. Meanwhile the laboratory test results showed that the compressive strength of the grouted coal is 14.91 MPa after solidification for 7d. The above data mean that the grouting slurry can solidify the broken roof into a whole without roof fall disaster. At the same time, the rock pressure of the extra-thick coal seam can effectively crush the top coal, which is conducive to the top-coal caving operation. The in situ test shows that when the pre-grouting is carried out in the range of 20~30 m in front of the working face, the roof fall disaster can be effectively avoided, which is consistent with the numerical simulation results. It shows the rationality of the FDEM numerical method and the constitutive model of rock deformation–fragmentation failure process.