Method for injection grouting

Abstract

The present disclosure pertains to a method for injection grouting comprising receiving (S1) data indicative of at least one drilling parameter during drilling of a hole (H), determining (S2) at least a first region (R1) and a second region (R2) of the hole (H) for injection of grouting material grouting based on the at least one parameter, positioning (S4) a packer (11) in the first region (R1), performing a first injection (S5) of grouting material at the first region (R1), re-positioning (S6) the packer (11) in the second region (R2), and performing a second injection (S7) of grouting material at the second region (R2). The present disclosure also pertains to associated mining and / or construction systems (100) and computer programs (1000).

Description

METHOD FOR INJECTION GROUTINGTechnical field

[0001] The present invention relates generally to mine fill grouting and in particular to methods for grouting injection, a computer program adapted to perform the methods, and a mining and / or a construction system for injection grouting.Background art

[0002] Injection grouting, also known as mine fill or mine grouting, is a crucial process in mining and civil engineering that involves injecting a suitable grouting material into voids, cracks, or cavities in rock or soil in a drilled hole. The purpose is to stabilize the ground, reduce water inflow, and enhance structural integrity. Injection grouting is important for preventing subsidence, minimizing environmental impact, and ensuring the safety of mining or civil engineering operations and surrounding infrastructure. By filling gaps with materials like cement, polyurethane, or epoxy, injection grouting reinforces weak zones, mitigates the risk of collapse, and extends the life of mines and underground structures.

[0003] Conventionally, an equipment known as a packer or a grouting packer is positioned in the drilled hole to seal off a target area having e.g., a void, a crack such that grouting material can be directed more precisely to the target area. However, the use of a packer does not ensure sufficient grouting injection as the drilled hole may comprise several areas having various material integrities. On one hand, depending on the nature of the drilled hole in question, certain areas may still be insufficiently injected with the grouting material despite the use of a packer. On the other hand, a problem may also be that unnecessarily large amounts of grouting material are used to achieve a sufficient grouting.

[0004] Therefore, there exists a demand for injection grouting solutions which effectively achieve the purpose of e.g., stabilizing the ground, reducing waterinflow, and enhancing the structural integrity of the drilled hole while requiring less amounts of grouting material.Summary of invention

[0005] It is therefore an object of the embodiments herein to provide a method for injection grouting that at least partially solves or alleviates the aforementioned challenges.

[0006] This object is achieved by means of the subject matter of the independent claims of the present disclosure, wherein further aspects of the present disclosure are incorporated in the dependent claims.

[0007] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, it is provided a method for injection grouting comprising: receiving data indicative of at least one drilling parameter during drilling of a hole, determining a first region and a second region of the hole for injection of grouting material based on the at least one drilling parameter, positioning a packer in the first region, performing a first injection of grouting material at the first region, re-positioning the packer in the second region, and performing a second injection of grouting material at the second region.

[0008] By determining regions of the drilled hole where a re-usable packer may be positioned, injection grouting may be performed with its intended purpose, of e.g., stabilizing the ground, reducing water inflow, and enhancing the structural integrity of the drilled hole in an efficient manner while reducing the amount of grouting material needed.

[0009] In various example embodiments determining the first region and the second region may comprise determining a first density of excavated material at a first hole depth based on the at least one drilling parameter, determining a second density of excavated material at a second hole depth based on the at least one drilling parameter, wherein the second hole depth is larger than the first hole depth, determining a location of the first region between the first hole depth and the second hole depth, and determining a location of the second region between a hole collar and the first hole depth.

[0010] The advantage of these embodiments is that a more precise determination of the regions for which to position the re-usable packer in is achieved.

[0011] In various example embodiments the first and the second hole depths may be determined based on a pre-determined deviation of the at least one drilling parameter.

[0012] The advantage of these embodiments is that a reliable and an improved manner of which to determine the regions for which to position the re-usable packer in is achieved.

[0013] In various example embodiments the method may further comprise determining a first amount of grouting material for the first injection and a second amount of grouting material for the second injection based on the at least one drilling parameter.

[0014] The advantage of these embodiments is that the amount of grouting material needed may be optimized further.

[0015] In various example embodiments the at least one drilling parameter may comprise at least one of the following: pressure, drilling speed, drilling temperature, and moisture.

[0016] The advantage of these embodiments is that suitable measurements to optimize the grouting material needed are achieved.

[0017] In various example embodiments the grouting material may be a concrete having a water / cement ratio between 0.5-0.6.

[0018] The advantage of these embodiments is that a suitable grouting material may be selected depending on the determined drilling parameter.

[0019] In various example embodiments the data indicative of the at least one drilling parameter may be received from a sensing unit.

[0020] The advantage of these embodiments is that a further efficient means for receiving the drilling parameter is achieved.

[0021] In various example embodiments the sensing unit may be connected to a drill unit.

[0022] The advantage of these embodiments is that the drilling parameter may be received with low latency.

[0023] In various example embodiments the sensing unit may comprise at least one of the following: a mud pressure sensor, a downhole pressure sensor, a rotational speed vibration sensor, downhole temperature sensor, a motor temperature sensor, a formation moisture sensor, and a mud moisture content sensor.

[0024] The advantage of these embodiments is that a more effective receival of data indicated the drilling parameter is achieved.

[0025] In another aspect of the present disclosure, it is provided a computer program comprising computer program code, the computer program being adapted, if executed by a processor to perform any methods disclosed herein.

[0026] In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, it is provided a mining and / or construction system for injection grouting comprising a drill unit configured to drill a hole and a sensing unit configured to detect at least one parameter during drilling, a grouting unit comprising means for positioning a packer within the hole and means for performing injection of grouting material, and a computer program as disclosed herein and a processor configured to execute the computer program.

[0027] The advantage of this embodiment is that an effective arrangement to perform the methods disclosed herein is achieved.

[0028] In various example embodiments the sensing unit may connected to the drill unit.

[0029] The advantage of these embodiments is that the receival of the data indicative of the at least one drilling parameter may be provided during drilling.

[0030] In various example embodiment, the drill unit, the sensing unit, and the grouting unit may be parts of a mining unit.

[0031] The advantage of these embodiments is that an arrangement which can more effectively fulfill the injection grouting process is achieved.

[0032] Further advantages with and features of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments.Brief description of drawings

[0033] The invention is now described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:Fig. 1 depicts a cross-sectional view of a drilled hole, wherein a re-usable packer has been positioned in a determined first region of the drilled hole according to various example embodiments of the present disclosure.Fig. 2 depicts a cross-sectional view of a drilled hole, wherein a re-usable packer has been positioned in a determined second region of the drilled hole according to various example embodiments of the present disclosure.Fig. 3 depicts a cross-sectional view of a drilled hole, wherein a location of a first region and a second region has been determined based on a density of excavated material at a first hole depth and a second hole depth according to various example embodiments of the present disclosure.Fig. 4 depicts a block diagram of a method for injection grouting according to various example embodiments of the present disclosure.Fig. 5 depicts a block diagram of a method for injection grouting according to various example embodiments of the present disclosure.Fig. 6 depicts a block diagram of a method for injection grouting according to various example embodiments of the present disclosure.Fig. 7 depicts a schematic view of a computer program according to various example embodiments of the present disclosure.Fig. 8 depicts a schematic view of a mining and / or construction system for injection grouting according to various example embodiments of the present disclosure.Description of embodiments

[0034] The invention is not limited only to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings, which primarily have an illustrative and exemplifying purpose. This patent application is intended to cover all adjustments and variants of the preferred embodiments described herein; thus, the present invention is defined by the wording of the appended claims and the equivalents thereof.

[0035] The person skilled in the art realized that the present disclosure by no means is limited to the preferred embodiments described above. On the contrary, many modifications and variations are possible within the scope of the appended claims. It should further be noted that the drawings not necessarily are to scale, and dimensions of certain features may have been exaggerated for the sake of clarity. Emphasis is instead placed upon illustrating the principle of the embodiments herein. Additionally, in the claims, the word “comprising” does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality.

[0036] Turning to figure 1 , a drilled hole H (also known as a borehole) is depicted. The drilled hole H may be drilled into a mountain face, a cliff, or the like in need of structural reinforcement. The hole H may be drilled prior, i.e. , pre-drilled in accordance with the methods disclosed herein. Generally, holes for injection grouting are relatively small in diameter. E.g., drilled holes H may have a diameter of 25-150 mm, commonly 25mm, 50mm, 75mm, or 150mm. The small holediameter may be chosen to fill out voids or cracks while minimizing use of grouting material while filing the drilled hole H.

[0037] As seen in figure 1 , a packer 11 has been positioned in a determined first region R1 of said drilled hole H in accordance with methods disclosed herein. Generally, a packer is used to seal off a section of a drilled hole such that injection grouting can be performed. As is known in the art, a packer may be made of an elastic material such as robber which may expand due to actuation (manual or automatic). Subsequently, a grouting means may be connected through the packer to allow grouting material to flow into the sealed off region during the injection grouting process. The packer may comprise means for preventing the grouting material from leaking from sealed off region, e.g., the packer may comprise a check valve or the like. In accordance with methods disclosed herein, the packer may be a re-usable packer 11 . In other words, the re-usable packer 11 may, once the grouting material is injected in a region, may be re-positioned in another region or part of the drilled hole H, e.g., after the grouting material has cured and hardened as is commonly known in the art.

[0038] Turning now to figure 2, a re-usable packer 11 has been positioned in a determined second region R2 of said drilled hole H in accordance with methods disclosed herein. It is important to understand that the re-positioning of the reusable packer 11 from the first region R1 to the second region R2 enables less amounts of grouting material to be used throughout the injection grouting process. E.g., a mere positioning of a packer in the second region R2 would enable grouting material to flow into a depicted crack C2. However, there are difficulties determining how much grouting material would be needed to fill out said crack C2. The case may be that the crack C2 has an end point at a lawn, a field, or the like such that grouting material would be wasted. In such a case, another crack C1 would not receive sufficient grouting material, as the grouting material would be used mostly for crack C2. It should be appreciated that this simple example can be extrapolated to much more complex injection grouting tasks where numerous regions and cracks may be present. However, the underlying principles as illustrated by the above examples may be the same.

[0039] Turning now to figure 3, a first density of excavated material may be determined at a first hole depth D1 based on at least one drilling parameter according to various example embodiments of methods disclosed herein. Similarly, a second density of excavated material may be determined at a second hole depth D2 based on at least one drilling parameter. As seen in figure 3, a location of the first region R1 may be determined between the first hole depth D1 and the second hole depth D2, and the location of the second region R2 may be determined between a surface of the hole and the first hole depth D1 . This enables a positioning of a re-usable packer 11 to be made in a suitable area to perform methods according to various example embodiments disclosed herein.

[0040] Figures 4-6 depict a block diagram of a methods for injection grouting according to various example embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be appreciated that while the steps of the methods disclosed herein are illustrated in a specific sequence, a skilled person understands steps may be carried out in other sequences for the methods described herein, wherever possible.

[0041] As seen in figure 4, the method may comprise receiving S1 data indicative of at least one drilling parameter during drilling of a hole H. In various example embodiments the at least one parameter may comprise at least one of pressure, drilling speed, drilling temperature, moisture, vibrations, sound, amount of cooling water, and cooling water pressure. However, other parameters and / or combinations of parameters are possible. Generally, the receival of a parameter during drilling of the hole H enables an efficient manner to determine suitable regions for positioning a packer 11 as will be described. The method may further comprise determining S2 a first region R1 and a second region R2 of the hole for injection of grouting material grouting based on the at least one parameter. The method may further comprise positioning S4 a packer 11 in the first region R1 and performing a first injection S5 of grouting material at the first region R1 . Further, the method may comprise re-positioning S6 the packer 11 in the second region R2 and performing a second injection S7 of grouting material at the second region R2.

[0042] As seen in figure 5, determining S2 the first region R1 and the second region R2 may comprise a number of sub-steps according to various exampleembodiments disclosed herein. As seen in figure 5, the method may further comprise determining S2a a first density of excavated material at a first hole depth D1 based on the at least one drilling parameter. Density of the excavated material provides a relatively simple proxy for determining e.g., a crack or a fissure. The method may further comprise determining S2b a second density of excavated material of at a second hole depth D1 based on the at least one drilling parameter. The location of the second hole depth D2 may be at a hole depth larger than the first hole depth D1 . In other words, the second hole may be at a deeper depth D2 relative to the depth D1 of first hole. It should be appreciated that the principle of determining densities, regions, and depths associated to the excavated material or the hole H may be extrapolated to many more densities, regions, and depths. The method may further comprise determining S2c a location of the first region R1 between the first hole depth D1 and the second hole depth D2 and determining S2d a location of the second region R2 between a collar of the hole (i.e. , the surface of the hole) and the first hole depth D1 . According to these embodiments, it is exemplified a manner of how to provide a suitable location for positioning and / or re-positioning of a packer 11 to perform the injections of grouting material. Figure 5 does not illustrate other steps of the methods disclosed herein, but it should be appreciated that the steps S3-S7 may be included in example embodiments where the sub-steps of determining S2 the at first region R1 and the at least second region R2 according to figure 5 and this paragraph are present.

[0043] In various example embodiments the first and hole depths D1 , D2 may be determined based on at least one pre-determined deviation of the at least one parameter during drilling. The drilling parameters may be as described in various example embodiments and may comprise at least one of pressure, drilling speed, drilling temperature, and moisture. However, other parameters and / or combinations of parameters are possible. A deviation may be a good proxy to understand where a crack, void, or fissure is located throughout the extension the drilled hole H. E.g., a measured decrease in pressure may indicate that there exists crack, void, fissure or that the material of the rock has changed from a harder to a softer material.

[0044] As seen in figure 6, the method may in various example embodiments further comprise determining S4 a first amount of grouting material for the first injection and a second amount of grouting material for the second injection based on the at least one drilling parameter. The at least one drilling parameter may be as described herein. In other words, based on the at least one drilling parameter, a first amount of grouting material for the first injection may of a higher volume than a second amount of grouting material for the second injection. E.g., in embodiments where a deviation of the drilling parameter is used, a more substantial deviation of the drilling parameter may be determined for a first density of excavated material than for the second density of excavated material. As such, more grouting material may be required in a first injection compared to a second injection. In various example embodiments, the grouting material may be a concrete having a water / cement ratio between 0.5-0.6. It is appreciated different amounts and / or different compositions of grouting material, depending on the received S1 data indicative of the at least one drilling parameter, may be used for the first injection S5 and second injections S7, and even subsequent injections.

[0045] Figure 7 depicts a schematic representation of a computer program 1000 according to an aspect of the present disclosure. The compute program 1000 may comprise computer program code, the computer program being adapted, if executed by a processor 1001 to perform any methods disclosed herein.

[0046] Figure 8 depicts a mining and / or a construction system 100 for injection grouting according to an aspect of the present disclosure. The system 100 may comprise a drill unit 102 configured to drill a hole. In various example embodiments the mining and / or a construction system 100 may be a stationary or mobile mining machine 301 as known in the art. The system 100 may further comprise at least one sensing unit 10 configured to detect at least one parameter during drilling. In various example embodiments the data indicative of at least one drilling parameter may be received from a sensing unit 10.

[0047] In various example embodiments, the sensing unit 10 may comprise at least one of the following: a mud pressure sensor, a downhole pressure sensor, a rotational speed vibration sensor, downhole temperature sensor, a motortemperature sensor, a formation moisture sensor, and a mud moisture content sensor. However, other suitable sensing units 10 and combinations of sensors are possible. In various example embodiments, the sensing unit 10 may be connected to the drill unit 102.

[0048] The system 100 may further a grouting unit 201 comprising means 202 for positioning a packer 11 within the hole and means for performing injection 203 of grouting material. The means 202 for positioning the re-usable packer 11 may be an extendable member, such as a mechanical arm which may be remotely and / or autonomously controlled.

[0049] In various example embodiments, the drill unit 102 and the grouting unit 201 may be part of a mining machine 301 . In other words, the drilling of the hole H and the grouting process may be performed in accordance with the methods described herein by a single unit. In various example embodiments, the drill unit 102, the sensing unit 10 and the grouting unit 201 may be parts of a mining unit 101.

[0050]

[0051] The system 100 may further comprise the computer program 1000 according to aspects disclosed herein and to and a processor 1001 configured to execute the computer program 1000. The processor 1001 may be located in a computer of a mining machine 301 , but arrangements where a central computer or cloud based solutions are used may be possible.

[0052] Various examples have been described. These and other examples are within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

CLAIMS1 . A method for injection grouting comprising:- receiving (S1 ) data indicative of at least one drilling parameter during drilling of a hole (H),- determining (S2) a first region (R1 ) and a second region (R2) of the hole (H) for injection of grouting material based on the at least one drilling parameter,- positioning (S4) a packer (11 ) in the first region (R1 ),- performing a first injection (S5) of grouting material at the first region (R1 ),- re-positioning (S6) the packer (11 ) in the second region (R2), and- performing a second injection (S7) of grouting material at the second region (R2).

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein determining (S2) the first region (R1 ) and the second region (R2) comprises:- determining (S2a) a first density of excavated material at a first hole depth (D1 ) based on the at least one drilling parameter,- determining (S2b) a second density of excavated material at a second hole depth (D1 ) based on the at least one drilling parameter, wherein the second hole depth (D2) is larger than the first hole depth (D1),- determining (S2c) a location of the first region (R1 ) between the first hole depth (D1 ) and the second hole depth (D2), and- determining (S2d) a location of the second region (R2) between a hole collar and the first hole depth (D1 ).

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the first and the second hole depths (D1 , D2) are determined based on a pre-determined deviation of the at least one drilling parameter.

4. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising:- determining (S4) a first amount of grouting material for the first injection and a second amount of grouting material for the second injection based on the at least one drilling parameter.

5. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one drilling parameter comprises at least one of the following: pressure, drilling speed, drilling temperature, and moisture.

6. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the grouting material is a concrete having a water / cement ratio between 0.5-0.6.

7. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the data indicative of the at least one drilling parameter is received from a sensing unit (10).

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the sensing unit (10) is connected to a drill unit (102).

9. The method according any of the preceding claims, wherein the sensing unit (10) comprises at least one of the following: a mud pressure sensor, a downhole pressure sensor, a rotational speed vibration sensor, a downhole temperature sensor, a motor temperature sensor, a formation moisture sensor, and a mud moisture content sensor.

10. A computer program (1000) comprising computer program code, the computer program being adapted, if executed by a processor (1001 ) to perform the method according any of claim 1-9.

11. A mining and / or construction system (100) for injection grouting comprising:a drill unit (102) configured to drill a hole and a sensing unit (10) configured to detect at least one parameter during drilling,- a grouting unit (201 ) comprising means for positioning a packer (11 ) within the hole and means for performing injection of grouting material, and- a computer program (1000) according to claim 10 and a processor (1001 ) configured to execute the computer program (1000).

12. The mining and / or construction system (100) according to claim 11 , wherein the sensing unit (10) is connected to the drill unit (102).

13. The mining and / or construction system (100) according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the drill unit (102), the sensing unit (10) and the grouting unit (201 ) are parts of a mining unit (101 ).

Images