How does a driller hit a area 1500′ below with enough accuracy to ? hit the intended space?
This is in relation to the ongoing rescue operation in Utah.
And a quote that is kinda what I was thinking. “But he said the 2½-inch drill could bend at the depths it is now being used, and possibly miss the cavity where the miners are.”
From this site http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/08/09/utah.mine/
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analitic geometry...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
As I understand it, there are radio-like devices that can be placed in the drill bit to help determine where it is. And, of course, some drills have a limited ability to "steer" the bit through various means.
But I'm thinking that most of this stuff would be useless at such depth with such a small bit.
However, I believe the chamber they're drilling for is quite large -- hundreds of feet across. It's (supposed to be) supported by columns of coal left in place between the areas that were mined out, kind of like a large, open, column-supported office building. The problem they're talking about most is hitting one of these columns, which would be maybe a 1 in 20 chance.
Of course what they aren't saying is that the odds are that the entire thing has collapsed (coal isn't all that strong) and the guys didn't live for 30 seconds after the collapse. This is especially likely since they were rumored to be doing "retreat" mining, where, after a chamber is mined out, the colums are removed, allowing the area behind to collapse.
Point vs. Push Currently, rotary steerable systems can be divided into two groups, "push-the-bit" systems and "point-the-bit" systems. Both systems utilize complex working mechanisms to accomplish the desired independent 3D directional control. Push-the-bit systems steer the bit by applying a side load that forces the bit laterally in the direction of the desired curve. Point-the-bit systems steer the bit by tilting the bit in the direction of the desired curve.
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I was wondering how it could be directed but now I see.
From this site http://www.halliburton.com/public/news/source_files/Newsletters/KCNews/2006/May06SDBS_DBSelect.html
I think the mining co has to have maps of their mining operation so they can do escape drilling if need be.
Yeah, but how accurate are they, and how well maintained?
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
Proof will be in the pudding. Mining chambers are sometimes large. Hopefully trapped miners are in a large chamber or shaft.
With this type of collapse it's damned if you do, damned if you don't. In a large chamber the roof likely would cave in. In a small one they'll never be found.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
Such a sad situation.
That owner of the mine is his own worst enemy. Makes me wonder how unsafe the mine is/was.
So sad
That owner of the mine is his own worst enemy. Makes me wonder how unsafe the mine is/was.
I keep thinking the same thing every time I see him on TV. What an idiot!
In SLC,ut lots of coverage of the ongoings this am.
They have punched through with the 2" drill and have taken air samples that are good.
So far no sign of response by the miners.
The 8" drill has not made it through and is temporally stoped.
Lots of activity but ? it's one of those things, hopefully they are cordoned off away from the penetration of the 2".
Ya got that right.. Me brother in law works in a lead mine. He repairs machines and his shop is about half the size of a football field with a ceiling of about 40 ft. And its 1000 ft down. There are 5 mines hooked together with 36 miles of road.
I worked summers in a potash mine when i was a lad, the drifts were something like 35 ft wide x 25 ft high, there were fully equipped mechanical shops down there, and we drove diesel toyota landcruisers.
I've also been in a coal mine out under the ocean in Nova Scotia, and all I can say is, I don't like coal mines, and will be happy if I never go in one again.
Good luck to them.
I am with you on the coal mine. My dad was a millwright in coal mines when he was a young man. Got out and was a carpenter for the rest of his working life.
Made a tour through a Gypsum mine, open pit, down in Southern California. Very interesting, they had an area the size of a parking lot for unwanted pure gypsum crystals. Most of the gypsum was in powder form but every once in awhile they would mine a huge solid single crystal of gypsum that was useless to their process so they would just set it aside and continue on with their mining operation. These crystals were the size of cars and looked like oversized single grains of salt, each weighing several tons. Way cool.