Designing coal panels in the conditions of associated methane and spontaneous fire hazards

An increase in methane, spontaneous fire and bumping hazards in Polish hard coal mines, observed in the last two decades, led to the need to elaborate the tools allowing proper selection of a range of preventive measures to fight them at the stage of designing coal extraction. Designing the production of a coal seams in the conditions of associated methane and spontaneous fires hazards in Polish hard coal mines requires elaboration of the design standards for coal panels in gassy coal seams. This paper presents the guidelines on how to design production in the conditions of associated methane and spontaneous fire hazards. Presented tools and methodology since the very first research were many times verified by daily mining operations in the conditions of associated methane and spontaneous fire hazards, which confirms their significant contribution to the development of safe and economical mining operations.