Method and system for mining hydrocarbon-containing materials
First Claim
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1. An underground continuous mining method, comprising:
- providing a mining machine in an underground excavation, the mining machine having at least first, second, and third movably engaged segments, wherein the second movably engaged segment is positioned between the first and third movably engaged segments and wherein the first segment is leading and the third segment is trailing the second segment;
displacing the second segment forward by simultaneously pushing against the third segment and pulling with the first segment to advance the mining machine in a direction of excavation;
positioning material excavated by the mining machine behind the mining machine to form a backfill material defining a trailing access tunnel; and
displacing the third segment forward by pushing against the backfill material.
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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.
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Citations
87 Claims
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1. An underground continuous mining method, comprising:
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providing a mining machine in an underground excavation, the mining machine having at least first, second, and third movably engaged segments, wherein the second movably engaged segment is positioned between the first and third movably engaged segments and wherein the first segment is leading and the third segment is trailing the second segment;
displacing the second segment forward by simultaneously pushing against the third segment and pulling with the first segment to advance the mining machine in a direction of excavation;
positioning material excavated by the mining machine behind the mining machine to form a backfill material defining a trailing access tunnel; and
displacing the third segment forward by pushing against the backfill material. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A tunneling machine, comprising:
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one or more excavation heads;
a segmented body including at least first, second, and third interconnected segments, each of the interconnected segments being movable relative to an adjacent segment, wherein the second segment is positioned between the first and third segments, and wherein the second segment is displaced forward in the direction of the first segment by the first and third segments simultaneously pulling and pushing, respectively, the second segment forward;
a backfilling assembly operable to locate material excavated by the one or more excavation heads behind the third interconnected segment to form a backfill material defining a trailing access tunnel; and
a compacting assembly operable to displace the third segment forward by pushing off of and compacting the backfill material, wherein an area of a cross-section of the trailing access tunnel is no more than about 30% of an area of a cross-section of excavation before backfilling. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. An underground excavation machine, comprising:
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a movable body member;
at least one excavation device for excavating material, wherein the movable body member includes at least first, second, and third adjacent, movable, and interconnected body segments, wherein the second segment is displaced by pulling with the first segment and pushing with the third segment;
a backfilling assembly operable to locate material excavated by the at least one excavation device behind the third interconnected segment to form a backfill material defining a trailing access tunnel; and
a compacting assembly operable to displace the third segment forward by pushing off of and compacting the backfill material, wherein an area of a cross-section of the trailing access tunnel is no more than about 30% of an area of a cross-section of excavation before backfilling. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36)
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37. An underground continuous mining method, comprising:
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providing a tunneling machine that has at least three movably engaged segments;
displacing a leading segment forward by pushing against the trailing segments to advance the tunneling machine in a direction of excavation;
forming, in a trailing segment, a liner for the tunnel formed by the machine, wherein the liner includes hydrocarbons extracted from hydrocarbon-containing material excavated by the tunneling machine. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40)
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41. An underground continuous mining method, comprising:
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providing a tunneling machine that has at least three movably engaged segments; and
displacing a leading segment forward by pushing against the trailing segments to advance the tunneling machine in a direction of excavation, wherein the leading segment is displaced by a combination of soft-ground grippers and pushing off a backfill. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A tunneling machine, comprising:
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one or more excavation heads;
a segmented body including at least 3 interconnected segments, each of the interconnected segments being movable relative to an adjacent segment;
a hydrocarbon extraction unit for extracting hydrocarbons from excavated material; and
a sensing device for sensing at least one of the presence of hydrocarbons or content of hydrocarbons in the excavated material. - View Dependent Claims (48)
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49. A tunneling machine, comprising:
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one or more excavation heads; and
a segmented body including at least 3 interconnected segments, each of the interconnected segments being movable relative to an adjacent segment, wherein the one or more excavation heads is an array of triangular cutter heads with slightly convex sides and offset planetary gear drives that can form an approximately rectangular excavation opening. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52, 53)
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54. A method of excavating, comprising:
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(a) displacing a first segment of a mining machine forward bypushing against trailing second and third segments of the mining machine;
(b) displacing the second segment of the mining machine forward by simultaneously pulling with the displaced first segment and pushing against the trailing third segment; and
(c) displacing the third segment of the mining machine forward by pulling with the displaced second segment and pushing off of a backfilled material positioned behind the mining machine, wherein the backfilled material comprises material excavated by the mining machine and defines a trailing access tunnel. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64)
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65. A mining machine, comprising:
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a segmented body comprising at least first, second, and third interconnected segments, wherein the second segment is located between the first and third segments;
at least one device for excavating in situ material, the at least one device being located in front of the first segment;
a first assembly positioned between the first and second interconnected segments for displacing one of the first and second segments relative to the other of the first and second segments;
a second assembly positioned between the second and third interconnected segments for displacing one of the second and third segments relative to the other of the second and third segments, wherein, when the second segment is displaced relative to the first and third segments, the first assembly pulls the second segment towards the first segment while the second assembly simultaneously pushes the second segment towards the first segment; and
a device for forming, in an excavation behind the mining machine, a trailing access tunnel, wherein an area of a cross-section of the trailing access tunnel is no more than about 30% of an area of a cross-section of the excavation. - View Dependent Claims (66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74)
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75. An underground continuous mining method, comprising:
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providing a mining machine in an underground excavation, the mining machine having at least first, second, and third movably engaged segments, wherein the second movably engaged segment is positioned between the first and third movably engaged segments and wherein the first segment is leading and the third segment is trailing the second segment;
displacing the second segment forward by simultaneously pushing against the third segment and pulling with the first segment to advance the mining machine in a direction of excavation;
forming, in the third segment, a liner for the tunnel formed by the machine; and
displacing the third segment forward by pushing against the liner. - View Dependent Claims (76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81)
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82. An underground continuous mining method, compnsing:
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providing a mining machine in an underground excavation, the mining machine having at least first, second, and third movably engaged segments, wherein the second movably engaged segment is positioned between the first and third movably engaged segments and wherein the first segment is leading and the third segment is trailing the second segment; and
displacing the second segment forward by simultaneously pushing against the third segment and pulling with the first segment to advance the mining machine in a direction of excavation, wherein the first and third segments do not use soft ground grippers when the second segment is displaced forward. - View Dependent Claims (83, 84, 85, 86, 87)
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Specification