The Zhaotong gas tunnel faces various challenges, such as high ground stress, low permeability of coal seams, high gas content, and soft coal layers. Herein, three tunnel gas drainage schemes—two-phase gas drainage in the parallel guide tunnel and main tunnel, single-phase gas drainage in the parallel guide tunnel and main tunnel, and one-time gas drainage using high- and low-level drilling fields—are theoretially analyzed and compared. The optimal gas drainage scheme using high- and low-level drilling fields is selected, and a gas drilling hole layout for the Zhaotong tunnel′s M7-M9 coal seams is implemented. Based on this, high-pressure water jet fracturing technology is employed to enhance coal seam permeability. The field study shows that: (1) Compared to other two schemes, the drilling workload of the high and low-level drilling field scheme is reduced by approximately 44% and 19%, respectively, and the construction period is shortened by 0.5 and 3 months, respectively. (2) The monthly cumulative pure gas drainage volume is approximately 200 000 m3, the gas extraction efficiencies in the high- and low-level drilling fields are 83% and 85%, respectively, reaching a 84% comprehensive gas drainage efficiency. The scheme has successfully controlled the gas outburst volume and guaranteed the construction safety of the project.
ZHOU Jian
,
QIU Jian
,
CAO Zekun
,
JIANG Mingfeng
,
WU Hua
. Gas-Outburst Prevention Measures Combining High and Low Drilling Fields and Hydraulic Fracturing in Gas Tunnels With High-Stress and Low-Permeability Coal Seams: A Case Study of Zhaotong Tunnel[J]. Tunnel Construction, 2025
, 45(S2)
: 347
-354
.
DOI: 10.3973/j.issn.2096-4498.2025.S2.031