Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
5.5
2.8
Journals
Processes
Special Issues
Sustainable Development of Coal Mining and Environment Impact Assessment
share announcement

Sustainable Development of Coal Mining and Environment Impact Assessment

A special issue of Processes (ISSN 2227-9717). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Processes".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 1306

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Hao Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of In-Situ Property Improving Mining of Ministry of Education, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
Interests: multiphase and multi-field coupling rock mass mechanics theory; mine water hazard prevention and utilization; coalbed methane mining
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Zhenghe Liu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of In-Situ Property Improving Mining of Ministry of Education, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
Interests: intelligent and green mining; rock mechanics and rock control; unconventional energy development; impact and fracture mechanics; multi-field coupled numerical simulation
Dr. Pengfei Wu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of In-Situ Property Improving Mining of Ministry of Education, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
Interests: rock mechanics; carbon sequestration; coal seam fracturing and permeability enhancement theory and technology for coalbed methane mining
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Coal mining remains vital for energy security in emerging economies, yet conventional methods face critical sustainability challenges. These include hard roof fracturing, which induces excessive mining pressure and roof disasters, long-term groundwater loss from aquifer infiltration into goafs, coal–gas outbursts, surface subsidence, methane and CO2 emissions exacerbating climate change, etc. Such issues threaten both mining safety and ecological resilience. This Special Issue, “Sustainable Development of Coal Mining and Environment Impact Assessment”, aims to showcase a series of new methods, technologies, and theories related to low-carbon, safe, environmentally friendly, and sustainable coal mining.

This Special Issue seeks to collect high-quality papers on achieving low-carbon, safe, and environmentally friendly coal mining. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, new methods for the low-carbon utilization of coal, as well as disaster identification, mechanism analysis, evaluation methods, and control measures that affect sustainable coal mining. This Special Issue welcomes original research articles and comments. We look forward to receiving your contribution.

Dr. Hao Li
Prof. Dr. Zhenghe Liu
Dr. Pengfei Wu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Processes is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • roof disaster
  • tunnel damage
  • water inrush from floor or roof
  • rock burst
  • energy storage related to coal mines, such as pumped storage, hydrogen storage, etc.
  • mining induced surface subsidence
  • ecological damage caused by mining
  • underground reservoir in coal seam goaf
  • efficient exploitation of coalbed methane
  • underground coal gasification
  • CO2 coal seam storage
  • other efficient, low-carbon, and sustainable ways to utilize coal

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

33 pages, 4905 KB  
Article
Managing Residual Methane from Abandoned Coal Mines in Urban Areas: A Post-Mining Risk Case Study from Lupeni, Romania
by Ladislau Radermacher, Andrei Burlacu and Cristian Radeanu
Processes 2026, 14(4), 696; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr14040696 - 19 Feb 2026
Viewed by 528
Abstract
Methane emissions from abandoned coal mining operations represent a persistent environmental and safety challenge in post-mining regions undergoing urban redevelopment. As urban infrastructure expands over former underground workings, the uncontrolled migration of mine gas can compromise public safety, exacerbate greenhouse gas emissions, and [...] Read more.
Methane emissions from abandoned coal mining operations represent a persistent environmental and safety challenge in post-mining regions undergoing urban redevelopment. As urban infrastructure expands over former underground workings, the uncontrolled migration of mine gas can compromise public safety, exacerbate greenhouse gas emissions, and undermine sustainable development goals. This study investigates the origin of methane emissions detected in an urban area of the municipality of Lupeni, Romania, following the commissioning of a new natural gas distribution pipeline installed within a historically mined perimeter. The emissions had not been previously reported and were unexpectedly discovered during technical inspections conducted after the gas network installation, highlighting the absence of historical data on gas presence in this area. This is the first documented case of an accidental discovery of methane emissions in an urban perimeter overlying historical coal mine workings in Romania, granting this study a pioneering status, both scientifically and in terms of urban risk management. The findings emphasize that administrative mine closure does not equate to risk closure, as latent methane emissions may reactivate during urban transformations (e.g., excavations, utility upgrades, drainage changes). To ensure a scientifically sound and sustainable risk assessment, an integrated diagnostic framework was applied, combining chronological field monitoring with chromatographic gas composition analysis. This methodology enabled precise attribution of the methane source to abandoned underground mine workings, excluding the public gas network as a contributor. Based on this diagnosis, a controlled drainage and methane recovery system was implemented, resulting in the elimination of detectable concentrations at all monitoring points by February 2025. The captured methane was redirected for local energy use, transforming an environmental liability into a usable resource. This intervention supports circular economy principles and aligns with EU climate and energy transition goals. The proposed methodological framework provides a replicable model for identifying and managing residual mine gas in post-industrial urban environments. Although emission fluxes were not quantified, concentration-based screening enabled risk diagnosis, prioritization, and targeted intervention. These findings are relevant to EU Regulation (2024/1785) on methane emission reduction, emphasizing the need to include post-mining methane (AMM) in urban planning and environmental monitoring strategies. Limitations of the study include the absence of baseline data and the inability to calculate total methane flux. However, the results support immediate and practical risk mitigation and highlight the need for future work focused on long-term monitoring and emission quantification. This case provides critical insights for other post-mining cities in Central and Eastern Europe facing similar challenges at the intersection of legacy coal infrastructure and modern urban development. This study is designed as a concentration-based diagnostic and risk-oriented case study and does not aim to quantify methane emission fluxes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Development of Coal Mining and Environment Impact Assessment)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

22 pages, 6012 KB  
Article
Fracture Expansion and Closure in Overburden: Mechanisms Controlling Dynamic Water Inflow to Underground Reservoirs in Shendong Coalfield
by Shirong Wei, Zhengjun Zhou, Duo Xu and Baoyang Wu
Processes 2026, 14(2), 355; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr14020355 - 19 Jan 2026
Viewed by 461
Abstract
The construction of underground reservoirs in coal goafs is an innovative technology to alleviate the coal–water conflict in arid mining areas of northwest China. However, its widespread application is constrained by the challenge of accurately predicting water inflow, which fluctuates significantly due to [...] Read more.
The construction of underground reservoirs in coal goafs is an innovative technology to alleviate the coal–water conflict in arid mining areas of northwest China. However, its widespread application is constrained by the challenge of accurately predicting water inflow, which fluctuates significantly due to the dynamic “expansion–closure” behavior of mining-induced fractures. This study focuses on the Shendong mining area, where repeated multi-seam mining occurs, and employs a coupled Finite Discrete Element Method (FDEM) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) numerical model, combined with in situ tests such as drilling fluid loss and groundwater level monitoring, to quantify the evolution of overburden fractures and their impact on reservoir water inflow during mining, 8 months post-mining, and after 7 years. The results demonstrate that the height of the water-conducting fracture zone decreased from 152 m during mining to 130 m after 7 years, while fracture openings in the key aquifer and aquitard were reduced by over 50%. This closure process caused a dramatic decline in water inflow from 78.3 m3/h to 2.6 m3/h—a reduction of 96.7%. The CFD-FDEM simulations showed a deviation of only 10.6% from field measurements, confirming fracture closure as the dominant mechanism driving inflow attenuation. This study reveals how fracture closure shifts water flow patterns from vertical to lateral recharge, providing a theoretical basis for optimizing the design and sustainable operation of underground reservoirs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Development of Coal Mining and Environment Impact Assessment)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-2
Back to TopTop