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US 6,554,368 B2Granted
Method and system for mining hydrocarbon-containing materials
AssigneeOil Sands Underground Mining, Inc.
InventorsRonald D. Drake, Michael Helmut Kobler, John David Watson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention is directed, inter alia, to devices and methods for excavating valuable materials, particularly soft ores such as oil sands, oil shales, and the like, that use one or more of a number of features, including backfilling for ground support, a small trailing access tunnel, processing of the valuable material in the excavation with the tailings optionally being used as backfill and the valuable material being transported to the surface, a plurality of movable shields for ground support, and/or a movable tail shield to provide interim support to the backfill while additional liner sections are installed and/or formed.
Claims79
An underground mining method, comprising:
- excavating in situ material in an underground excavation with a tunnel boring machine;
- backfilling at least a portion of the underground excavation with a particulate material to define a trailing passage, wherein an area of a cross-section of the trailing passage is no more than about 30% of an area of a cross-section of the at least a portion of the excavation before backfilling;
- and
- thrusting off of the backfilled particulate material to propel the tunnel boring machine forward.
1 more element
An underground mining method, comprising:
- removing in situ material from an excavation face in an underground excavation using a tunnel boring machine, the underground excavation having a cross-sectional area near the excavation face and in a direction transverse to a direction of excavation;
- and
- forming at least a portion of the removed material into a consolidated liner between the excavation face and a surface opening of the underground excavation to define a trailing tunnel, the trailing tunnel having a cross-sectional area in a direction transverse to a direction of excavation that is no more than about 30% of the cross-sectional area of the underground excavation, wherein the consolidated liner remains stationary after formation.
An underground mining method, comprising:
- (a) removing consolidated in situ material from an excavation face in an underground excavation using a tunnel boring machine, the underground excavation having a cross-sectional area near the excavation face and in a direction transverse to a direction of excavation;
- (b) placing at least one of a liner and form between the excavation face and a surface opening of the underground excavation to form a trailing passage, the at least one of the liner and form having an outer periphery that is smaller in size than the excavation and remaining stationary after placement;
- and
- (c) placing at least a portion of the removed material between the at least one of the liner and form and a surface of the excavation.
1 more element
A continuous underground mining method, comprising:
- removing consolidated material from an underground excavation face using a continuous mining machine, the continuous mining machine being located near the excavation face;
- placing at least a first portion of the removed material behind the continuous mining machine to form a trailing opening having a cross-sectional area transverse to a direction of excavation that is no more than about 30% of a cross-sectional area of the excavation transverse to the direction of excavation at the location of the continuous mining machine;
- removing at least a second portion of the removed material from the underground excavation.
An underground mining method for excavating a hydrocarbon-containing material, comprising:
- passing a tunnel boring machine through the in situ hydrocarbon-containing material to form a tunnel;
- forming a consolidated liner in the tunnel behind the tunnel boring machine, the consolidated liner defining a trailing passage and remaining at least substantially stationary;
- and
- placing a backfill material in the tunnel behind the tunnel boring machine and around the liner to provide ground support for the trailing passage.
1 more element
An underground mining method, comprising:
- removing in situ material from an excavation face in an underground excavation, the underground excavation having a cross-sectional area near the excavation face and in a direction transverse to a direction of excavation;
- sensing a type of unexcavated material ahead of the excavation face and wherein the sensing is performed using an active acoustic source;
- and
- forming at least a portion of the removed material into a consolidated liner between the excavation face and a surface opening of the underground excavation to define a trailing tunnel, the trailing tunnel having a cross-sectional area in a direction transverse to a direction of excavation that is less than the cross-sectional area of the underground excavation.
1 more element
An underground mining method for excavating a hydrocarbon-containing material, comprising:
- passing a tunneling machine through the in situ hydrocarbon-containing material to form excavated hydrocarbon-containing material;
- placing a backfill material behind the tunneling machine to form a tunnel of reduced cross-sectional area;
- and
- using mature fine tailings as a lubricant in the tunneling machine.
1 more element
An underground mining method for excavating a hydrocarbon-containing material, comprising:
- passing a tunneling machine through the in situ hydrocarbon-containing material to form excavated material, wherein the tunneling machine forms, through the hydrocarbon-containing material, a tunnel having a “U”-shape heading;
- forming a tunnel liner in a tunnel behind the tunneling machine;
- forming perforations in the liner;
- sealing at least a section of the tunnel from an ambient atmosphere;
- introducing a gas into the at least a sealed section of the tunnel;
- placing a backfill material behind the tunneling machine and around the liner to form a tunnel of reduced cross-sectional area.
3 more elements
An underground mining method for excavating a hydrocarbon-containing material, comprising:
- passing a tunneling machine through the in situ hydrocarbon-containing material to form excavated material, wherein the tunneling machine forms, through the hydrocarbon-containing material, a tunnel extending in a “U”-shape pattern;
- placing a backfill material behind the tunneling machine to form a tunnel of reduced cross-sectional area;
- and
- installing a plurality of rock bolts into the hydrocarbon-containing material accessible by the tunnel formed by the tunneling machine, wherein each of the rock bolts includes a passage for gases passing into or out of the hydrocarbon-containing material.
1 more element
An underground mining method for excavating a hydrocarbon-containing material, comprising:
- (a) passing a tunneling machine through the in situ hydrocarbon-containing material to form excavated material;
- and
- (b) placing a backfill material behind the tunneling machine to form a tunnel of reduced cross-sectional area, wherein the passing step (a) comprises the substeps of:
- (i) advancing a first section of the tunneling machine forward, wherein the first section is advanced by pushing against an adjacent second section of the tunneling machine;
- (ii) when the first section is advanced relative to the second section a selected distance, pulling, with the first section, the second section forward and pushing, with at least one trailing section, adjacent to the second section, the second section forward;
- (iii) when the second section is advanced relative to a trailing section the selected distance, pulling with the first and second sections and pushing off the backfill material behind the tunneling machine to move the at least one trailing section forward;
- and
- (iv) in the portion of the excavation formerly occupied by at least one trailing section, placing a liner.
5 more elements
An underground mining method for excavating a hydrocarbon-containing material, comprising:
- passing a tunneling machine through the in situ hydrocarbon-containing material to form excavated hydrocarbon-containing material;
- placing a backfill material behind the tunneling machine to form a trailing passage of reduced cross-sectional area;
- and
- installing a plurality of rock bolts into the unexcavated hydrocarbon-containing material accessible by the tunnel formed by the tunneling machine, wherein each of the rock bolts includes a passage for gases passing into or out of the hydrocarbon-containing material.
1 more element
An underground mining method for excavating a hydrocarbon-containing material, comprising:
- passing a tunneling machine through the in situ hydrocarbon-containing material to form excavated hydrocarbon-containing material;
- forming a tunnel liner in a tunnel behind the tunneling machine;
- forming perforations in the liner;
- sealing at least a section of the tunnel from an ambient atmosphere;
- and
- introducing a gas into the at least a sealed section of the tunnel.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.