Experimental Study and Application of Rheological Properties of Coal Gangue-Fly Ash Backfill Slurry

From the perspective of resource recovery and environmental protection, coal gangue-fly ash cemented backfill coal mining has become an important direction for the green development of coal mines in recent years. Analysis of the rheological parameters of backfill slurry is the basic principle to design a backfill pipeline system. Coal gangue-fly ash backfill slurry has a mass concentration of 76% to 79% and a maximum particle size 20 mm. Therefore, it is difficult to use conventional rheometers for experimental analyses of the rheological parameters of such fluids. We developed a rheometer for high-concentration coal gangue backfill slurry (HCGS rheometer) based on the coal gangue-fly ash backfill practice of Gonggeying Mine, and analyzed the rheological properties of the backfill slurry. The experimental results showed that the Reynolds number of the coal gangue-fly ash backfill slurry was much smaller than the critical Reynolds number, indicating the flow state in the pipeline was laminar. Based on these results, it may be more appropriate to control the mass concentration to 77% to 78%, and the suggested fly ash content is 25%. This work provides a scientific basis to optimize the backfill parameters and pipeline system in coal mines.