Eksploatacja otworowa złóż siarki rodzimej metodą podziemnego wytapiania

W artykule przedstawiono zarys historyczny górnictwa siarki rodzimej na ziemiach polskich od średniowiecza do czasów współczesnych. Omówiono eksploatację złoża siarki metodą podziemnego wytapiania, w tym konstrukcję odwiertów, ich rodzaje, a także zasady sterowania ciśnieniem oraz temperaturą i odprężania górotworu.

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In the Polish lands sulphur was known as early as the 10th century. The first place of its extraction was found in the area of Swoszowice near Cracow. Between 1415 and 1921, there were four sulphur mining centres on Polish territory, with total production estimated at around 200,000 tonnes. After the Second World War, explo¬ration led to the discovery of sulphur deposits in the Tarnobrzeg area. This led to the commencement (in 1966) of sulphur mining by underground smelting method, using the Frasch method, adapted to the seam deposits, among others at the Grzybów mine. In this method, the structure of the production well consists of five elements: casing columns: initial and technical, and production columns: water, sulphur and air. A water column is used to pump process water at a temperature of approximately 160°C at a pressure of 0.8-0.9 MPa. The sulphur column receives smelted sulphur at a temperature of 140-150°C. The production wells are drilled in a 45 x 45 m triangular grid and, in the case of re-exploitation, 45 x 60 m. Stress relieving of the deposit is carried out by stress relieving boreholes located at the front of the exploitation front. The main criterion in determining the reservoir stress relieving rate is the balance between reservoir pressure and the pressure generated by the overburden rocks. For the Osiek mine, the stress relieving rate should be between 35-70% of the amount of water injected into the deposit.