Apparatus and methodologies of mining hydrocarbons from a target area within a subterranean formation, wherein a first phase involves providing at least one production well having at least one mechanical excavator rotatably disposed therein and rotating the mechanical excavator to convey the mined hydrocarbons from the formation to the surface, and a second phase involves, as the hydrocarbons being mined are depleted, withdrawing the mechanical excavator away from the formation, such that additional hydrocarbons are mined.

A method of mining comprising the steps of introducing a mining head into a borehole fracturing the ore with the mining head and extracting the fractured ore through a borehole to a location remote from the mining head.

An automatic coal mining machine and a fluidized coal mining method are provided. A first excavation cabin is configured to cut coal seam to obtain raw coal and to be transported to a first coal preparation cabin for separating coal blocks from gangue. Then, the obtained coal blocks are transported to a first fluidized conversion reaction cabin. The first fluidized conversion reaction cabin converts the energy form of the coal block into liquid, gas or electric energy, which is transported to a first energy storage cabin for storing. Coal mining and conversion are carried out in underground coal mines, so it is not necessary to raise coal blocks to the ground for washing and conversion, thereby reducing the transportation cost of coal, improving the utilization degree of coal, and avoiding the pollution of the ground environment caused by waste in the mining and conversion process.

Processes and configurations for subterranean resource extraction are provided. The processes include installing borehole strings, such as by drilling a plurality of boreholes, for example, first and second boreholes, that extend from a surface region into a resource deposit. The first and second boreholes are situated adjacent to each other. Portions of the first and second boreholes laterally extend in a penannularly fashion and connect terminally at a nodal space situated within the resource deposit. Carrier fluid is injected from the surface along fluid paths defined by the boreholes to in situ leach resource materials from the resource deposit into the carrier fluid, and carrier fluid containing the resource materials is brought back to surface for resource extraction.

An automatic coal mining machine and a fluidized coal mining method are provided. A first excavation cabin is configured to cut coal seam to obtain raw coal and to be transported to a first coal preparation cabin for separating coal blocks from gangue. Then, the obtained coal blocks are transported to a first fluidized conversion reaction cabin. The first fluidized conversion reaction cabin converts the energy form of the coal block into liquid, gas or electric energy, which is transported to a first energy storage cabin for storing. Coal mining and conversion are carried out in underground coal mines, so it is not necessary to raise coal blocks to the ground for washing and conversion, thereby reducing the transportation cost of coal, improving the utilization degree of coal, and avoiding the pollution of the ground environment caused by waste in the mining and conversion process.

The present invention provides a system for supplying heat by means of stratum coal in-place slurrying and a method for supplying power generation heat by means of stratum coal in-place slurrying, belonging to the technical field of ground-source well heat exchange. The system comprises a stratum coal slurrying device, a mid-deep well casing device and a heat exchange device. The stratum coal slurrying device comprises a water inlet pump and a coal slurry pump, which are connected to a directional slurry preparing drill through pipelines, respectively. The mid-deep well casing device comprises a vertically buried pipe, and a heat-insulating inner pipe that is coaxial with the vertically buried pipe and inserted into the vertically buried pipe. A microporous pipe assembly is arranged on the bottom of the heat-insulating inner pipe. An electric heater is arranged in the microporous pipe assembly, an annular cavity is formed between the vertically buried pipe and the heat-insulating inner pipe, and a power wire connected to the electric heater is arranged in the annular cavity. The coal slurry pump is connected to the annular cavity. The heat exchange device comprises a water outlet pipe that is inserted into the heat-insulating inner pipe and connected to the microporous pipe assembly. The present invention can directly combust the underground coal to generate heat energy to realize heat energy conversion, and the process is clean and harmless.

A method for determining the distribution of a proppant and associated slurry exiting perforations made in a casing, which is placed in a well, includes receiving settling data describing the proppant settling in the casing; receiving a slip parameter describing a casing velocity of the proppant relative to a perforation velocity of the proppant; calculating with a computing device, based on a constant proppant concentration model, (1) initial flow rates Q′(i) of the proppant through the perforations and (2) initial flow rates Q′.sub.case(i) of the proppant through the casing, wherein i is the number of perforations; and calculating with the computing device, based on (1) a variable proppant concentration model, (2) the settling data, (3) the slip parameter, (4) the initial flow rates Q′(i) of the proppant through the perforations, and (5) the initial flow rates Q′.sub.case(i) of the proppant through the casing, normalized flow rates Q′.sub.s(i) of the proppant through the perforations.

A method for determining the distribution of a proppant and associated slurry exiting perforations made in a casing, which is placed in a well, includes receiving settling data describing the proppant settling in the casing; receiving a slip parameter describing a casing velocity of the proppant relative to a perforation velocity of the proppant; calculating with a computing device, based on a constant proppant concentration model, (1) initial flow rates Q′(i) of the proppant through the perforations and (2) initial flow rates Q′.sub.case(i) of the proppant through the casing, wherein i is the number of perforations; and calculating with the computing device, based on (1) a variable proppant concentration model, (2) the settling data, (3) the slip parameter, (4) the initial flow rates Q′(i) of the proppant through the perforations, and (5) the initial flow rates Q′.sub.case(i) of the proppant through the casing, normalized flow rates Q′.sub.s(i) of the proppant through the perforations.

Apparatus and methodologies of mining hydrocarbons from a target area within a subterranean formation are provided wherein a first phase involves providing at least one production well having at least one mechanical excavator rotatably disposed therein and rotating the mechanical excavator to convey the mined hydrocarbons from the formation to the surface, and a second phase involves, as the hydrocarbons being mined are depleted, withdrawing the mechanical excavator away from the formation, such that additional hydrocarbons are mined.

Apparatus and methodologies of mining hydrocarbons from a target area within a subterranean formation are provided wherein a first phase involves providing at least one production well having at least one mechanical excavator rotatably disposed therein and rotating the mechanical excavator to convey the mined hydrocarbons from the formation to the surface, and a second phase involves, as the hydrocarbons being mined are depleted, withdrawing the mechanical excavator away from the formation, such that additional hydrocarbons are mined.