Three Fundamental Challenges in Deep Coal and Gas Outburst: Progress, Controversies, and Future Perspectives
- 1Anhui University of Science and Technology , , ,
Abstract
Coal and gas outburst (CGO) remains one of the most severe dynamic hazards in deep coal mining. Increasing burial depth challenges conventional single-factor criteria. This critical review synthesizes advances in CGO mechanisms reported between 2015 and 2025, focusing on three fundamental challenges: the limited applicability of the 0.74 MPa gas-pressure threshold under deep conditions, the nonmonotonic thermal regulation of gas adsorption–desorption and transport, and the apparent high-storage–low-trigger paradox of tectonically deformed coal (TDC). Comparative assessment of elastic-energy- and adsorbed-gas-dominated theories indicates that deep outbursts are better interpreted as condition-dependent competition among elastic strain energy, gas expansion work, fracture-energy consumption, and dissipative processes. Reported values further show that coal deformation/fracture energy and gas expansion energy can become comparable in magnitude, whereas the fraction of adsorbed-gas energy converted into dynamic work remains highly uncertain. Temperature exerts competing influence on sorption, transport, deformation, and energy redistribution, while TDC combines high gas-storage capacity, low permeability, and low mechanical strength, favoring pressure disequilibrium and structural instability. Three priority research questions emerge: quantifying adsorbed-gas energy conversion into dynamic work, establishing cross-scale similarity and validation for thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) coupling, and developing physics-constrained prediction of nonlinear instability. These advances provide a pathway from single-index hazard identification toward mechanism-informed, multiparameter early warning.
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BibTeX
@article{xu2026three,
title = {{Three Fundamental Challenges in Deep Coal and Gas Outburst: Progress, Controversies, and Future Perspectives}},
author = {Youping Xu and Wenxin Huang},
journal = {ACS Omega},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.1021/acsomega.6c10350},
url = {https://pubs.acs.org/acsodf/article/doi/10.1021/acsomega.6c10350/5463474/Three-Fundamental-Challenges-in-Deep-Coal-and-Gas},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Three Fundamental Challenges in Deep Coal and Gas Outburst: Progress, Controversies, and Future Perspectives
AU - Youping Xu
AU - Wenxin Huang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/04
JO - ACS Omega
DO - 10.1021/acsomega.6c10350
UR - https://pubs.acs.org/acsodf/article/doi/10.1021/acsomega.6c10350/5463474/Three-Fundamental-Challenges-in-Deep-Coal-and-Gas
AB - Coal and gas outburst (CGO) remains one of the most severe dynamic hazards in deep coal mining. Increasing burial depth challenges conventional single-factor criteria. This critical review synthesizes advances in CGO mechanisms reported between 2015 and 2025, focusing on three fundamental challenges: the limited applicability of the 0.74 MPa gas-pressure threshold under deep conditions, the nonmonotonic thermal regulation of gas adsorption–desorption and transport, and the apparent high-storage–low-trigger paradox of tectonically deformed coal (TDC). Comparative assessment of elastic-energy- and adsorbed-gas-dominated theories indicates that deep outbursts are better interpreted as condition-dependent competition among elastic strain energy, gas expansion work, fracture-energy consumption, and dissipative processes. Reported values further show that coal deformation/fracture energy and gas expansion energy can become comparable in magnitude, whereas the fraction of adsorbed-gas energy converted into dynamic work remains highly uncertain. Temperature exerts competing influence on sorption, transport, deformation, and energy redistribution, while TDC combines high gas-storage capacity, low permeability, and low mechanical strength, favoring pressure disequilibrium and structural instability. Three priority research questions emerge: quantifying adsorbed-gas energy conversion into dynamic work, establishing cross-scale similarity and validation for thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) coupling, and developing physics-constrained prediction of nonlinear instability. These advances provide a pathway from single-index hazard identification toward mechanism-informed, multiparameter early warning.
SN - 2470-1343
ER -