Flexible roof drill for low coal. Final technical report

Technical Report · Sun Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1979

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6822233· OSTI ID:6822233

Finney, J. L.; Eakin, R. N.; Rich, D. E.; Wall, T. J.

The IRRI Flexible Roof Drill for low coal, referred to as the Rod Changer Drill, evolved as a result of the Phase I and II efforts on this contract in which several design concepts were evaluated. The Low Coal Drill program was initiated to provide a roof drill which, in conjunction with the Bendix Roof Bolt Inserter, would be capable of operating in coal seams as low as 30 inches. This drill would have the ability to drill and install bolts of up to eight feet in length, thus retaining productivity and increasing operator safety by removing the operator from the immediate area. The IRRI Rod Changer Drill performs the drilling of longer than seam height roof drills by automatically coupling up to 6 short drill steel sections to form the drill string. This concept will permit the operator to perform drilling from a remote location, although bolt insertion requires his presence in the immediate area. The underground test evaluation was conducted at Bethlehem Nicholas Mine No. 81 located in Drennen, West Virginia. The field trial was completed in two and one-half months in which the vehicle performed adequately in all areas. The test demonstrated the ability of the Rod Changer Drill to successfully function in an underground environment without major malfunctions. The test also revealed the necessity of further refinement of the drill to improve productivity and reliability.

• Research Organization: Ingersoll-Rand Research, Inc., Princeton, NJ (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC01-74ET12196
• OSTI ID: 6822233
• Report Number(s): FE-9090-1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
012000* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Mining
42 ENGINEERING
420206 -- Engineering-- Mining & Drilling Equipment & Facilities-- (1980-1989)
COAL DEPOSITS
COAL MINERS
COAL MINING
COAL SEAMS
DATA
DESIGN
DIMENSIONS
DRILLING EQUIPMENT
EQUIPMENT
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
INFORMATION
INSTALLATION
MINERAL RESOURCES
MINERS
MINING
MINING EQUIPMENT
NUMERICAL DATA
PERFORMANCE TESTING
PERSONNEL
RESOURCES
ROOF BOLTS
SAFETY
TESTING
THICKNESS
UNDERGROUND MINING