Abstract
For determine the optimum position of the roof low roadway, the optimal solution is derived according to the response surface methodology. The UDEC numerical simulation of the overburden gives the porosity distribution of the strike fractured zone, the upper limit heights of the caving zone and the fractured zone are obtained as 18 m and 65 m, respectively. Based on the porosity distribution, the FLUENT numerical models of the goaf zone, air inlet roadway, air return roadway, working face and roof low roadway were established to simulate the gas concentration in the upper corner and gas drainage volume in roof low roadway during mining. Using the vertical and horizontal distance of the roof low roadway as the influencing factors, the experimental scheme of the position of the roof low roadway was designed according to the response surface method, and the response values were obtained from the FLUENT simulation experiments, predicting that the vertical and horizontal distances of the roof low roadway were 7.7 m and 5.9 m respectively when the interaction between the gas concentration in the upper corner and gas drainage volume in roof low roadway was optimal. Field tests showed that the average gas concentration in the upper corner and the average gas drainage volume in roof low roadway were 0.432% and 40.861 m(3)/min respectively, both of which were less than 10% of the error from the simulations. The design of the roof low roadway has effectively managed the gas accumulation problem in the upper corner.