Coal seam fracture stimulation practices indicated that the efficiency of methane drainage is improved initially but reduces thereafter. It is speculated that the contrasts of gas drainage efficiency before and after fracture stimulation may reflect variation of the closure behavior of the fracture created artificially. The work presented herein uses numerical modeling to study the effect of waterjet slotting parameters on the closure behavior of artificial fractures in coal seam. The modeling

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... esults indicated that the increase in the methane drainage efficiency due to the fracturing treatment depends upon the closure and residual behavior of fractures, which incorporates with the length, width and distribution of the fractures along the length of borehole and these controllable slotting parameters are directly linked to the fracture conductivity and, therefore, represent the main outcome of fracture stimulations, and significantly affect the success of the stimulation procedures used for the coalbed methane drainage.