70931, page 1-35 @ Normalize - WVU College of Engineering and ...

Accolades
MINING FACULTY Win R&D Award
L to R: Jerry Jones, John Howard,
Eddie Bonnin, Yi Luo, Syd Peng,
and Felicia Peng.
For the third
straight year, a
WVU Department
of Mining
Engineering
research project
aimed at increasing
the safety and
efficiency of coal
mine drilling
operations received
a R&D Top 100
Award from R&D
Magazine in 2006.
longhole directional drilling, which involves drilling holes as
long as 5,000 feet. This type of drilling is accomplished mainly
by trial and error and requires constant repositioning of the
bit to keep it in the coal seam. The new technology has
replaced trial and error with a high-tech system involving
radar sensors that are coupled to the drill pipe or tubing. The
information gathered by the sensors is transmitted to a
computer outside, and this computer automatically
determines and directs the course of the drill bit. The result is
an increase in the efficiency of the entire drilling operation.
In addition, the radar sensors on the drill string provide
useful information to drill operators about the geology of
areas being drilled.
Professor Syd Peng, along with associate professors Felicia
Peng and Yi Luo, won the award in partnership with Stolar
Horizon, Inc., of New Mexico, for their development of a realtime
communications system known as the Data
Transmission System. The system facilitates high-speed data
exchange between the surface and the drill string that is used
to drill into coal seams prior to mining.
Drilling into the coal seam is necessary to allow methane to
escape before mining operations can begin. The most
common technology in current use for this purpose is
“A reliable data transmission between the drill string and the
surface control unit over long distances is the key to tapping
the full potential of these drilling technologies,” said Peng.
“With all of the information that this system will provide, the
risks of mining will be reduced, especially in adverse
geological conditions.”
The same team won R&D’s Top 100 Award in 2004 and 2005
for earlier stages of the research. The technology is now
complete and is being tested underground.
22
WATTS RECEIVES Erskine Ramsay Medal
Royce Watts (right)
accepted the Erskine
Spring 2007
Royce Watts, the College’s
associate dean for administration,
received the 2007 Erskine Ramsay
Medal from the American
Institute of Mining, Metallurgy,
and Petroleum Engineers for his
dedication to the coal mining
industry, to WVU, and to the
preservation of our mining
heritage.
Ramsay Medal at the
SME Conference in Watts earned his B.S. in business
February.
administration and his M.S. in
economics from WVU, and has
served the University in administrative and teaching positions
for 48 years. His association with the coal mining industry
began in 1979, when he became the associate dean of the
College of Mineral and Energy Resources. He has served in
leadership roles with the West Virginia Coal Mining Institute,
has advised honors students in the mineral resources majors,
participated in the Central Appalachian Section of SME, and
has helped to manage the WVU Mineral Resources Alumni
Chapter. He also oversaw the design and construction of the
Mineral Resources Building. In 1995, when the College of
Mineral and Energy Resources merged with the College of
Engineering, he moved into his current position in the
College of Engineering and Mineral Resources.
Watts has been a longtime supporter of WVU’s Mining,
Petroleum, and Natural Gas Museum, which is dedicated to
preserving the history of the coal, oil, and gas industries of
West Virginia. In 2005, the West Virginia Coal Mining
Institute endowed the museum and it was renamed The Royce
J. and Caroline B. Watts Museum in honor of the couple’s
contributions to our mining heritage. Watts also was
recognized as a Distinguished West Virginian in 1997 by
Governor Cecil H. Underwood for his contributions to the
continuing education of mining professionals.