Research on forced gas draining from coal seams by surface well drilling

Surface drilling was performed at the Luling Coal Mine,in Huaibei,to shorten the period required for gas draining.The experimental study was designed to reduce the cost of gas control by efficiently draining gas from the upper protected layer.The structural arraignment and technical principles of pressure relief via surface drilling are discussed.Results from the trial showed that gas drained from the surface system over a period of 10 months.The total amount of collected gas was 248.4 million m^3.The gas draining occurred in three stages：a growth period;a period of maximum gas production;and an attenuation period.The period of maximum gas production lasted for 4 months.During this time the methane concentration ranged from 60%to 90%and the average draining rate was 10.6 m^3/min.Combined with other methods of draining it was possible to drain 70.6%of the gas from middle coal seam groups.The amount of residual gas dropped to 5.2 m^3/ton,and the pressure of the residual gas fell to 0.53 MPa, thereby eliminating the outburst danger in the middle coal seam groups.The factors affecting pressure relief gas draining by surface drilling were analysed.

A novel algorithm of normal attitude regulation for the designed end-effector of a flexible drilling robot

An end-effector for a flexible drilling robot is designed, and a novel four-point algorithm of normal attitude regulation for this end-effector is presented. Four non-coplanar points can define a unique sphere tangent to them in spatial geometry, and the center point of the sphere and the radius can be calculated. The shape of a workpiece surface in the machining area is approximately regarded as such a sphere. A vector from the machining point to the center point is thus approximately regarded as a normal vector to the workpiece surface. By this principle, the algorithm first measures four coordinates on the curve in the drilling region using four sensors and calculates the normal vector at the drilling point, then calculates the error between the normal vector and the axis of the spindle. According to this error, the algorithm further figures out the angles of two revolving axes on the end- effector and the displacements of three linear axes on the robot main body, thus it implements the function of adjusting the spindle to be perpendicular to the curve at the drilling point. Simulation results of two kinds of curved surfaces show that accuracy and efficiency can be realized using the proposed algorithm.

Enhancing diamond drilling performance by the addition of non-ionic polymer to the flushing media

Drilling is a most important and crucial operation in the excavation industries.With the objective of looking into the enhancement of diamond drilling performance detailed laboratory investigations were carried out on phosphate rock.The effect of Poly（Ethylene Oxide）（PEO） added to the drilling water was studied by varying machine parameters and PEO concentration.The responses were rate of penetration and torque at the bit rock interface.Slake durability tests were also performed to understand the slaking behavior of phosphate rock in PEO solutions.

Development of a drill energy utilization index for aiding selection of drill machines in surface mines

Drill machines used in surface mines, particularly in coal, is characterized by a very poor utilization （around 40%） and low availability （around 60%）. The main purpose of this study is to develop a drill selec- tion methodology and simultaneously a performance evaluation technique based on drill cuttings produced and drilling rate achieved. In all 28 blast drilled through were investigated. The drilling was accomplished by 5 different drill machines of Ingersoll-Rand and Revathi working in coal mines of Sonepur Bazari （SECL） and Block-II （BCCL）. The drills are Rotary and Rotary Percussive type using tri- cone rock roller bits. Drill cuttings were collected and sieve analysis was done in the laboratory. Using Rosin Ramler Diagram, coarseness index （CI）, mean chip size （d）, specific-st trace area （SSA） and charac- teristic particle size distribution curves for all the holes drilled were plotted. The predictor equation for drill penetration rate established through multiple regressions was found to have a very good correlation with an index of determination of 0.85. A comparative analysis of particle size distribution curves was used to evaluate the drill efficiency. The suggested approach utilises the area under the curve, after the point of trend reversal and brittleness ratio of the respective bench to arrive at drill energy utilization index （DEUI）, for mapping of drill machine to bench, The developed DEU1 can aid in selecting or mapping a right machine to right bench for achieving higher penetration rate and utilizations.

Bionic surface design of cemented carbide drill bit

The development of a high-performance cemented carbide drill bit is of great significance to the reduction of rock drilling-cost. The non-smooth features of a biological surface provide an insight into how they can obtain low friction and good wear resistance with evolving surface morphology. By analyzing the mechanism of the surface of a dung beetle for reducing soil wear and adherence, we design a cemented carbide drill bit with a bionic surface, which is expected to have superior anti-wearing and anti-sticking properties for drilling the soft coal seam. Inspired from the characteristics of the head and pronotum surface of the dung beetle, optimized non-smooth surface of the drill bit was constructed. The working performance of this innovative drill was experimentally tested. With comparative experiments under the identical drilling conditions, the wear rates, drilling times of conventional drills and bionic drills were measured. Compared with the conventional counterpart, the drill designed exhibits better performance in reducing wear and sticking drilling-breaks, therefore achieving higher levels of efficiency. The diameter of the dome and pit on the bit surface is in the range of 0.8–1.2 mm, and the bionic drill bits could get better performance with preferable drilling speeds and wear rates.