DRILLING & MINING

TECHNOLOGY
PRESENTED BY
DR.A.BALUKKARASU
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
CENTRE FOR REMOTE SENSING
BHARATHIDASAN UNIVERSITY
THIRUCHIRAPPALLI-620 023
INDIA.
mail id:[email protected]
 DRILLING & MINING TECHNOLOGY
Drilling: Types of Drilling methods - Percussion Drills - Rotary Drills - Other Drilling
Methods, Drill Sampling – Accuracy of bore Hole Sampling, Bore Hole Problems (bore hole
deviation, core recovery etc.,) - Bore Hole Logging, Preservation and Sampling of cores.
12 Hrs

Surface Mining: Basic Concepts of Alluvial mining, Strip Mining, Open cast Mining
or Quarrying, Open pit mining - Break even stripping Ratio - Determination of Pit limits for
Different cutoffs - Determination of ultimate depth. 9
Hrs

Underground Mining: Open stopes: Methods of Open stopes - Supports for

stoping - Square set method. Filled stopes: Methods of Filled stopes, Shrinkage stopes,
Mitchell slicing systems - Caving methods - Advantages and disadvantages of different
underground mining methods.
9 Hrs

Mining Methods for Mineral and Oil: Metal mining methods – Coal mining
methods – Mining methods of Hydrocarbon – Problems in various mining.
9 Hrs

Mining Methods for Groundwater: Test holes and well logs – Well design -
Well development - Methods for constructing shallow wells & deep wells – Well completion
– Pumping equipment – Protection of wells – Well rehabilitation – Horizontal wells –
Groundwater Extraction methods. 9
Hrs
Drilling: Types of Drilling methods - Percussion Drills -
Rotary Drills - Other Drilling Methods, Drill Sampling – Accuracy
of bore Hole Sampling, Bore Hole Problems (bore hole deviation,
core recovery etc.,) - Bore Hole Logging, Preservation and
Sampling of cores. 12 Hrs
Drilling - Definition
Process of making holes in
the ground or rock – Drilling.
Drilling – Importance & Methods
 Most useful during prospecting, exploration and
exploitation
 Development of mines
 Shaft sinking
 Rescue works, etc.

 Drills are classified broadly into two:

 Manually operated
 Mechanically operated by
 Compressed air
 Pressurized water-Turbo drills
 Petrol / diesel, electrical engines
 High temperature flame or
 Steam (rarely used).
 40% of amount is spent on drilling by Exploration
companies
Basic types of drilling… contd…
On the basis of commonly used techniques for mineral
exploration, in increasing order of their cost, drilling is
classified into 3 basic types:

• Auger drilling
• Rotary Percussion drilling
• Diamond drilling
Cost
Based on the principle involved in the operation, drills
may also be classified under the following types:

 A. PERCUSSION – major driving force is pressure

 Jumper bar or Hand drill – Manually operated – High C , Mn, Steel bar-1” to
1½”
 Pneumatic drills – Mechanized - Jack hammer, Hammer drill, Wagon drill
 Churn drill – Manual & Mechanized
 Reich drill or Drillmaster (down-hole type).

 B. ROTARY – involves both rotary motion and pressure

concurrently
 Auger – Hand/manual or Mechanized
 Calyx – Hand/manual or Mechanized
 Rotary drill using rock roller bits, tricone bits, etc., and turbo drills using water
as well as compressed air
 Diamond drills (using diamond and T.C. bits)

 C. MISCELLANEOUS
 Jet Drilling
 High temperature flame drill
 Banka or Empire drill
 Burnside drilling equipment
 Soil sampling drills, etc.
 A. PERCUSSION DRILLS
1. Jumper Bar
• Like a Crow Bar, made of Mn – steel, a very tough object to a length
of 1½ m long and 3 cm dia.
• Similar to jumpers used in fitting home appliances in walls…
• Same principle as that of usual jumpers… since it is big, two persons
are involved
• One has to hold the jumper bar vertically over the surface where we
want to have drill hole, keeping wedge edge touching the surface
• The other has to hit the head of jumper bar forcefully using a heavy
hammer
• Now, the person holding the jumper bar has to rotate it while lifting
and then place it again on the same spot firmly for next hit by the
hammer.
• Wet drilling is usual and the sludge is removed from the hole with a
scoop periodically.
• The rate of drilling is very slow in hard rock terrains = 1m per day
• There is a possibility of injuries to the persons involved.
2. Pneumatic drills
• Mechanized drilling
• Worked by compressed air - lllr to Jumper bar ; also known as
Jack hammer

1 – Handle, 2-Air jet inlet from compressor, 3-Piston, 4-Ratchet, 6 – Metal Cover
holding the drill 5 & 7-Chuck, 8-Shank/Drill, 9-Valve, 10-Pawl, 11-Rifle bar
4-Ratchet - A ratchet is a mechanical device that allows continuous
linear or rotary motion in only one direction while preventing motion
in the opposite direction.
teeth to tighten the bar using the key
5-Chuck-a specialized type of clamp used to hold
an object, usually with radial symmetry,
esp. a cylindrical object. It is most commonly used to
hold a rotating tool (such as the drill bit in a
power tool) or a rotating workpiece (such as the bar)

8-Shank – Holder of Drill bar / piston

9-Valve – used to reverse the air supply

10-Pawl – used to restrict the reverse rotation / action (syn.= Cog, tooth)
11-Rifle bar - is situated within the centre of the piston, which can be
rotated in one direction attached with rachet but can be moved on
either sides, i.e., back and forth.
• Compressed air under the pressure of 800-
1000 lb/sq.in, enters and pushing the piston 3,
forward
• Which enters the cylinder through the valve 9,
the air supply is reversed and the piston is
pushed back
• In the backward movement, the chuck (5)
which connects the drill (8) to the front part of
piston is made to rotate
Animation
showing the
Working
mechanism
in certain
Pneumatic
drills
Pneumatic drill
Photographic view of Compressor
Used for Pnuematic drilling
• Pneumatic drilling with Compressor is seen along the 2nd bench
of TANMAG mines, Salem, for further production / expansion
• The exhaust (compressed air) is also released through
the central hole in the piston.
• The exhaust air passes out through the central small
calibre hole, in the rod, and serves to cool the cutting
bit, and also to remove the cuttings at the same time.
• Earlier, in the piston pneumatic drills, the reciprocating
piston and the drill rod were connected, so that the
reciprocating motion was directly transferred to the
rods.
• Pneumatic drill – slower in action and the number of
strokes per minute is also less because of the rubbing
against the sides of the hole, friction of the drill rods,
etc.
Hammer Drills - Pneumatic
• Hand held drills – – machines weight varies between 70 –
100 lbs per sq.in.
• Hand drill Jack Hammer – needs 60-90 cubic ft. air
• Drifters – 150-200 c.ft
• Stoppers - 70-90 c.ft.
“Down the Hole Hammer” - Moving type
Comprises 3 Units – I, II & III
Unit-I 1 – Valve
Unit-II 2 – Hammer & Hollow stem at the middle
Unit-III 5 - Anvil
6 – Button bit

Operating mechanism
• Q – the gap between Units I & II – will be closed
when compressed air is let in at P.
• At the same time, valve-1 closes the hammer stem
opening R and thus the hammer 2 is pushed down
and strikes the anvil 5 with great force and this
impact is communicated to the button bit 6.
• When the hammer 2 delivers the blow to the anvil,
the valve-1 retracts due to the action of the spring 5,
and the vent R is opened and the hammer 2 also
retracts due to the action of the spring S2 and
• the cycle of the operation is repeated at the rate of
1000 to 3000 blows per minute to make drill hole.
Aerial Rock Drill
Mechanism of Aerial Rock Drill
• For secondary drilling of large boulders produced after blasting a blast
hole face.
• Unit consists of a self propelled tractor-mounted cabin with controls.
• The drill is operated by a self contained compressor.
• Operator sits in mobile cabin which is mounted on a 33 sq.foot boom.
• Cabin is equipped with a high speed drifter, with three times the
speed of normal drifter drills.
• In the vertical arc, the drifter can operate between 104o to 105o, so
that several holes can be drilled without moving the cabin.

Advantages:
1. Cheaper operation which is about 75% less than the normal.
2. This is mainly due to the firm and convenient position of the drill
operator
3. The higher rate of drilling and quick movement of the operator from
boulder to boulder or from place to place also makes high efficiency.
 1. Motor / Engine
2. Sand wheel / drum
3. Cranked / Band wheel / eccentric
Rod – Pitman
Churn drill 4.
5. Joint
6. Pulley
7. Walking beam
8. Drilling rod / tools
9. Temper screw
 Churn drill - Mechanism
• A lever of the 1st order - walking beam (7).
• The drilling tools are arranged to one end of the lever,
while the other end is coupled either with cranked wheel
/ Band wheel / Eccentric(3) through a rod known as
Pitman(4)
• When the motor rotates bandwheel, and actuates the
walking beam (7), the drilling tools (A) will also move up
and down, derive the percussive action.
• Major part of the weight of the drilling tools is taken up by
the rope suspension attached through pulley to the
springed drum (2) known as sand wheel.
• Temper screw (9) arrangement for increasing the length
of the string of tools when drilled.
Dart Bailer
• Used to remove the cuttings from the bore
hole – Sample collector
• When the drilling rods are jammed, this jar
is dropped with a jerk and then the tools
can be easily lifted up.

• b - 4” dia jar – steel tube;

• a – conical valve
• C - stirrup
Manually operated Churn drill – Spring Pole
Drilling

• 1 – Tripod Stand, 2- Pulley, 3- Drilling tools hanged

with rope, 4 – Winch
• Rope Holders standing between tripod and winch,
should pull down and drop the rope.
B. ROTARY DRILLING

In these drills, the drilling mechanism involves

both rotation as well as pressure at the same
time.

The different major types of Rotary drilling

machines are:

1. Auger drill and Davis cutter – in soft rocks

2. Calyx cutter – Core sampling
3. T.C bit (Tungston Carbide) – for hard rock or
broken chip samples
4. Diamond drill – For hard rock with core
sample
1. Auger Drill
 Flat steel strip, twisted in the form of screw (2)
 One tip of this twisted steel strip is sharpened (1) so as to cut / scoop the
soft rock / soil (sandy and clayey) and penetrate down and make drill hole.
 The other tip which is not flattened is used as handle to apply both pressure
and rotary motion. Drills upto 50 to 100 ft – Both manual and mechanical opr.
 Similar to laboratory cork borer / carpenter’s auger drill

Scoop type Hand auger for

Soil core sampling
 Hand auger
A Video Clip showing the

• Sampling method of Heavy Mineral

sand (having higher specific gravity of
>2.9) in coastal Odisha, using Hand
Auger and then

• Rapid Separation of heavies from light

minerals having low specific gravity in
the field by a Senior Official of AMD.
 2. Calyx Drill
Sketch showing Parts of Calyx drill
1 – Rope connecting drill tool
2 – Two inlet pipes for water jet
3 – Feed rod for water swivel
4 – Stand fixed at ground surface
5 – Longitudinal slot to slide along and
move the gear up and down
6 – Companion gear meshed with - (7)
7 – Bevel gear fitted with engine
8 – Collar of the inner tube-feed rod
9 – Drill rod
• Hand or Machine operated.
• Swivel – two parts connected to each other in
such a way that one can turn around freely
upon the other
 Essential parts of Water swivel
1. Outer tube
2. Inner Tube carrying T joint
3. Flange of the outer tube
4. Plate of outer cover with bolt
5. Thrust bearing with ball-1
6. Thrust bearing with ball-2
7. Greased asbestos rope tightly
packed between outer and inner
tubes
8. Collar of the inner tube
9. Internal lip of outer tube
10.Water tube (in 2 = T joint)
9 11.Shot tube
12.Eye loop
Chuck, the
Drilling tool 13.Collar
1 holder with 14.Plate
screw
15.Bolt
Procedure – water swivel
• Water swivel has thrust bearing and rotates freely.
• Of the two inlet pipes, one carry water into the drill rods for
cooling, washing, etc.
• The other carries chilled shot for shot drilling
• The water swivel allows the drill tools and feed rod to rotate, while
the water pipe and the chilled shot pipe remain stationary
• Through an eye-loop, the entire set up is suspended
• The annular space between the inner and outer tubes is tightly
packed with greased asbestos rope
• The drill rods are attached to the screw at the end of the outer
tube
• When the plates -14 and 4, and thrust bearings holding these
plates are pressed together, by tightening the bolts-15, the inner
tube-2 is pushed down by the collar-13,
• Whereas the outer tube-1 is pushed upwards relatively by the
flange-3.
• Thus the gland packing consisting of asbestos rope-7 is made
water tight and any leakage is sealed.
Essential parts of
Coring equipment in
Calyx Drill

1. Drill rod
2. Davis cutter or Calyx cutter
or Tungston Carbide bit
3. Sediment tube
4. Drill rod attached at the end
of drive rod
5. Core Barrel
6. Shot bit
7. Sub or Connector
• When the shot bit is used for drilling hard rocks (Part – 6 in the
fig. above), chilled shots of 0.332” in dia. are fed into the drill rods
along with water. The shots pass into the drill rods, from the water
swivel.
• At the bottom of the hole, the shots are crushed and penetrate the
shot bit.
• During the rotation of the shot bit, which gets impregnated with steel
splinters, cut into the rock.
Removal of Solid cylinder of Core from the drill hole
• For this, the Grout (mixture of Borate power with 1/8” dia. broken
gravel or gravel alone is fed into the drill rods and then,
• Water is feed through the swivel and water pressure is increased
• As a result, the grout / gravel settles down at the bottom of the core
barrel.
• Once the drill is operated, the core will be held firmly by the core
barrel by wedging action of the gravel, breaks off from the rock
attachment, and can be hoisted out of the hole together with the drill
rods.
Advantages of Calyx drill:

• Calyx drill is a more robust machine, as compared to

diamond drill,
• It is capable of being handled by less skillful personnel.
• Comparatively, the machine is cheaper and
• It is efficiently works in soft rocks like Sandstones,
Shales, Limestones…
• Large diameter drills are easy to make using this Calyx
drill
• But, core getting is more cumbersome in large diameter
drill.

Limitations:
It cannot be used where angle of holes is less than 75
degree from the horizontal – it is required fairly in hard
rocks. Thus, it necessitates using shot bit.
Rock roller drill

• Rock roller drill - using rock roller bits, tricone

bits, etc., and turbo drills using water as well
as compressed air
• 3 bevel gears of high grade steel with T.C tips
placed at centres 120o apart are made to
mesh
• When the rod is rotated, the gears are rolled,
at the bottom of the hole and cut into the soft
rock.
Diamond core drilling
Diamond Drill bits

• An annular, diamond-impregnated drill bit attached to

the end of hollow drill rods to cut a cylindrical core of
solid rock
• diamonds used are fine to microfine industrial grade
diamonds.
• Matrix hardness, diamond size and dosing can be
varied according to the rock which must be cut.
• Holes within the bit allow water to be delivered to the
cutting face.
• This provides three essential functions — lubrication,
cooling, and removal of drill cuttings from the hole.
 Core collector

1 – Core Barrel
2 – Core
3 – Incomplete
wedge shaped
circular steel band –
Clip – little extra dia.
sized
4 - Seat for core clip
How planar surfaces look in drill core
1. A small brittle fault in drill core.

2. Large brittle faults (centre) produce broken disoriented core and their
attitude cannot generally be measured.

3. A small ductile fault, usually coherent structures that provide information

on their attitude and, if the core is oriented, the sense of displacement across
them can be measured.
Because of the small size of drill core, identifying large structures is
difficult. Here a strong cleavage in a fold hinge obliterates earlier bedding
surfaces in a small piece of core. Only by carefully observing progressive
changes over a longer section of core can the true structure be identified.
C. MISCELLANEOUS DRILLING

Banka or Empire drill

A Video Clip showing, how the

Banka or Empire drill is used
for collecting Heavy sand core
samples in coastal Kerala
region by AMD
Drilling machines can also be classified according to
the purpose for which they are used as listed below:

• Drills for alluvial prospecting

• Drills for petroleum drilling
• Drills for water well drilling
• Drills for Hardrock drilling
• Drills for shaft sinking (large diameters and for driving
large diameter tunnels)
• Drills for soil sampling.
Selecting the right drilling technique or combination of
drilling techniques is always a trade-off between the
• Speed of drilling,
• Cost involved,
• required sample quality,
• sample volume,
• logistics and
• environmental considerations.
Comparison of exploration drilling methods
Drill Sampling
• From the drill holes, it is possible to
collect samples from different
formations – “side wall samples”
• Use percussion tools or with rotary
drilling to collect samples
• Two types of samplers – mechanisms
• Sampler tube (1) is fitted with two 1 – Sampler tube
2 – Plunger
blades (3). 3 – Blades
• The blades have two hollow sample 4 – Hallow sample
tubes
tubes (4) inserted into recesses
Method of sampling – using Percussion
–Side wall sampler

• The sampler is lowered to the desired position

• Apply hydraulic pressure to through the hollow drill
rods
• The plunger (2) causes the two blades to move
outwards and the sampling tubes penetrate into the
formation and
• Hollow tubes are filled with the rock
• On release of the hydraulic pressure, the blades
retract and the sampler is withdrawn
• The sample core is about 3cm in dia. And 4-5cm in
length.
Gun sampler – Side wall
• Similar to muzzle loading gun
• Hollow shots (3) are fired, from the
barrels (2)
• Can have 6 to 36 sampling bullets or
shots
• Shots are fired electrically and hence
made to penetrate deep into the side
walls of bore holes, i.e., into the rock /
soil formations
• Since the shots are attached with
wires(4), they can be retrieved when
the sampler is pulled up.
Directional drilling and Planned Deflection of
bore holes - conditions

• Rotary or diamond drill bore hole may be deflected

from its original direction and angle to collect the
sample according to the preplanned programme
• When a mineral deposit lies beneath inaccessible
nature –lake, river course, quick sand, etc.
• When the topography is not favourable – very steep
and undulatory
• When structural conditions are unfavourable – due to
faulting / folding
• If the ore body to be explored from underground
deflection method, etc.
Eastman removable Whipstock

• This equipment comprises a wedge (4) with a

collar at the top (2)
• The collar fits loosely on the drill rod (1)
• But the rod coupling cannot pass through the collar
(2)
• When the whipstock is connected with the main
drill rod and lowered into the bore hole, the
pointed end (4) sticks to the rock and the drill rods
(1) are deflected by the semicircular groove (3)
Cylindrical wood plug

• There is another method of deflecting diamond bore

holes in hard rock
• A cylindrical wood plug (1) with v-shaped notch at the
top is first pushed into the bore hole through drill rod(5)
It is tightly fixed by soaking in water and expanding
2nd – a guide wedge (2) to which is rivetted (3) the
clinometer holder (4) with clinometer (4a) is attached
to the drill rods (5). The guide wedge (2) fits into the v-
notch of w.p. (1)
• 3rd – clinometer after half an hour is withdrawn by sharply driving the
rods to shear the copper rivets (3)-thus guide wedge (2) is left in the
bore hole
• 4th – deflecting wedge (7) with circular median groove (8) and collar
(9) is attached by a special stub or connector by copper rivet (10)

• Lower the crescent shaped deflecting wedge(7) attached with a pilot

piece (6) is anchored at wooden plug (1) in drill hole
• 5th – rotating the drill rods , will bring the pilot piece (6) against the
flat face of the guide wedge (2).
• Now the copper rivet (10) is sheared off by a sharp blow to the rods
• the rods are withdrawn from the hole
• 6th – drill rods with a reaming bit (used to widen the bore hole) are
lowered and the opening in collar (9) is enlarged
• 7th -normal coring bits are attached and drilling is started
• It is slow and time consuming, 5 shifts, deflection is only 1.5 to 2
degr.
Data collection and sampling
The driller records meticulously the following list of details:
• 1) Rate of drilling, 2) Nature and color of the sludge as well as the
sediment, 3) Quantity of water used to know water seepage, loss
through fractures, etc, 4) Length of the run, 5) Length of the core
recovered and the lost with its depth 6) Type of tools used like
NX, BX, AX, EX - upto what depth, etc. 7) Location of bore hole –
lat. Long., distance, direction from nearest village 8) Purpose of
drilling – name of the project
• 9) Angle of bore hole –if inclined with azimuth 10) Elevation of the
collar (RL), 11) remarks column having troubles and cause for
delays.
• 12) On loss of core sample in some depth, then sludge recovery
and settling tank methods are used to collect samples
• 13) In certain cases, on loosing core, geophysical logging
methods may also be employed in bore hole – resistivity logging,
gamma ray logging, S.P. logging, etc.
Accuracy of bore hole sampling
• Contamination of sample by the sludge and extraneous
material should be avoided
• Hence (a) the bore should be cased as drilling proceeds
(b) washing out of the sludge should be thorough at every
step
• The sample should represent both the core and the
sludge (friable core) / slurry in the correct proportions
• Core : sludge = 1:2
Bore hole problems
• Bore hole deviations
• Core recovery
• Sample accuracy,
• Breakage of drilling tools,
• Choking of drill bit, etc.

Other Problems caused outised due to Drilling :

• Groundwater pollution,
• Noise and air pollution,
• Induced rock slumps in hill slopes and mine walls, etc.
Bore hole deviation Problem
•Most drill holes deviate from the vertical. This is
because of the
•torque of the turning bit working against the cutting
face,
•flexibility of the steel rods and especially the screw
joints,
•reaction to foliation and structure within the rock,
and
•refraction as the bit moves into different rock layers
of varying resistance.
•Additionally, inclined holes will tend to deviate upwards
because the drill rods will lie against the bottom of the
bore, causing the drill bit to be slightly inclined from
true.
Bore hole logging
• A) Drillers log, B) Geologist’s log / lithological log
• Driller’s log – technical / cost aspects of drilling operations –
equipment/tools used, difficulties and set backs, rate of
penetration, qualitative description of the rocks encountered
and cored
• Litho log – full particulars of rocks encountered/cored -
colour of the sludge, length of core recovered, core lost,
total drilled in the run, any special feature-water loss, depth
of such loss-details of mineralisation, structures, etc.
• For additional information, electrical logging, optical or
accoustic logging, mechanical logging-using caliper(dia of
bore hole at various depths using 2 calipers moved
through electrical circuits and then correlation between
several logging details.
Litholog from a Borehole
Observations are recorded
graphically and numerically on
the log sheet against a selected
down-page scale. The use of
colour on such logs greatly
enhances information content.
Graphical logging is a powerful
and flexible technique which
supports detailed observation: its
use is recommended for all first
stage exploration drilling.
Preservation and Sampling of Core
• Material from the core can be subjected to
• Conventional chemical analysis
• Non destructive chemical analysis – electron probe, etc
• Other methods – atomic absorption, spectroscopic analyses or DTA,
X-ray, etc.
• Petrological examination-rock type, ore minerals, etc
• Sedimentological studies – coal proximate/ultimate analysis, grain
size, shape, etc.
• Lithofacies mapping

• Thus core is a precious material should be preserved

in core boxes – flat wooden boxes- 10ft/3m long and
3 ft . / 1m wide,
Divided into
Compartments.
Sampling core with a diamond
impregnated core saw. The core is cut
in half along its length: one half is
taken for assay, the other half returned
to the core tray. The saw used is
generally a brick saw modified with a
special channel to hold the core piece
on the feed tray.

Permanent marking of drill core –2. The

ends of each core tray should be
permanently labelled with the hole
number, the depth interval stored in the
tray and the tray sequence number. In
the system illustrated, this information is
inscribed or punched onto a heavy
aluminium or zinc tag which is riveted to
the end of the tray
• The box is marked with A, B, C, and D and on the sides with numbers
representing segment depth at which sample is collected.
• Samples are labelled with relevant paint showing depth
• Wooden blocks are placced where missing cores and marked with
missing length
Sampling
Systematic sampling: rough and ready method – crushing entire length
of core piece, coning and quartering – not most appropriate
Use core splitter: Chisel to split core longitudinally along the axis.
Water loss while drilling and its preservation: Seal minor fissures or
porous material with ordinary clay or Bentonite slurry
Large fissures – Jute fibres or husk with clay slurry for plugging the
openings.
Highly fractured: above methods -not effective. Cement grouting
By packer method : Tight fitting through rubber cup washers with little big
diameters fit in the drill rod and placed in the hole for packing cement
between rod and the hole.
Stage method: Both drilling and grouting go hand in hand and each weak
zone is grouted as soon as it is encountered.
COAL MINING: FROM THE
GROUND TO POWERING
YOUR HOME
Types of coal
• 4 Main Types of Coal

• Anthracite
• Carbon content between 86 and 98 percent. Heat value of about 15,000
BTUs/lb.
• Bituminous
• Carbon content between 45 and 86 percent. Heat value of 10,500 to
15,500 BTUs/lb.
• Subbituminous
• Carbon content between 35 and 45 percent. Heat value of 8,300 to 13,000
BTUs/lb.
• Lignite
• Carbon content between 25 and 35 percent. Heat value of 4,000 to 8,300
BTUs/lb.
How do we get coal out of the ground?
• Surface Mining:
• Typically occurs at depths above 180 ft.
• Most common form in Wyoming

• Underground Mining
• Typically occurs at depths below 300 ft.
• Accounts for 60% of world coal production
Surface mining
• 4 Main Types of Surface Mining
• Strip Mining
• Removal of large strips of overlying rock and soil to reveal coal.
• Open-Pit Mining
• Removal of rock and soil creating a vast pit where coal can be
extracted.
• Mountaintop Removal Mining
• Removal of mountain tops with explosives. Land made flat after
reclamation.
• Highwall Mining
• A continuous miner cuts holes horizontally into the coal
formation.
Where does the coal go after it leaves the
mine?
• The coal is shipped by train or barge to its destination.
• The coal may be refined before shipping
• Washing with water or a chemical bath to remove some impurities
• When the coal arrives at the power plant, it is pulverized
into a heavy powder that is suitable for burning.
How is coal used at a power plant?
How is electricity Measured?
• Electricity is measured in units of power.
• The basic unit of power is the watt (W)
• W = J/s = (N x m)/s = (kg x m2)/s3
• Most power plants produce electricity in the
scale of megawatts (MW)
Power Plants Near Lander
• Beaver Creek Gas Plant
• Power generation – 5 MW
• Boysen Power Plant
• Power generation – 15 MW
• Pilot Butte Power Plant
• Power Generation – 1.6 MW

• The average household in Wyoming consumes 896 kWh.

These 3 plants combined generate enough electricity to
run 17,360 homes
What is nanotechnology?
• The study of manipulating matter on an atomic or
molecular scale.

• Deals in the size range of 1 to 100 nanometers (nm).

• Applications in many fields such as energy production,

medicine, biomaterials, and electronics.
 Why nanotechnology is so advantageous?
• Very high surface area to volume ratio (SA:V).
• This is important for many chemical reactions.
Thank You!!!