Application and development of CT scanning technology in coal sector

^a Shandong University of Science and Technology, Mine Disaster Prevention and Control-Ministry of State Key Laboratory Breeding Base, Qingdao 266590, PR China
^b Shandong University of Science and Technology, College of Mining and Safety Engineering, Qingdao 266590, PR China

^* Corresponding author: ipo@sdu.edu.cn

Abstract

CT scanning technology has been widely used in the observation of coal microstructures because of its advantages of non-destructive and refined visualization. In this study, the post-processing methods (image processing, 3D reconstruction, numerical simulation, etc.) of CT scan images are introduced in detail, and the application of CT in the coal sector is systematically reviewed, mainly including: coal seam gas mining (coal structure, reservoir permeability etc.); mechanical properties of coal mass damage; coal seam water injection, coal mass permeability enhancement, coal washability, etc. The application of CT in various research fields has been relatively mature. The initial research is focused on the analysis of coal mass structure, and subsequently the fractal dimension is introduced and the in-depth study of coal mass seepage is involved. At the same time, CT scanning equipment is been constantly improving to be applied to a wider range of explorations. In the future, improved image processing or equipment can increase the research accuracy, and the field of coal structure and seepage under the multi-field coupling conditions such as pressure-temperature-seepage can be explored.