It was learning about a resource-rich China that led Taiwanese-born and raised Peng to go on to study mining engineering, though he admits his industry memories extend well beyond that to watching coal mine activity near Tiger Mountain in his native country during his school years.
He also credits the educational and research opportunities – and a bit of encouragement from colleague William Crenz at the US Bureau of Mines (now NIOSH) – for bringing him to the US. Taking advantage of opportunities, he said, and having an open mind for thinking and learning is what has brought him to his status as one of the industry’s best experts.
ILN: What do you see as being the greatest mining development during your career?
SP: I think the application of computers in mining is the greatest and most significant development. I remember when the first longwall employed electrohydraulically controlled shields when introduced in 1984 in northern West Virginia. At that time, IBM barely had introduced their PC. Therefore, coal mining is the pioneer industry in computer and IT applications.
ILN: What area of research gets you the most enthused about the coal industry?
SP: Going underground studying ground control failures has been and still is my favourite activity. I like to find and observe what actually occurs underground that match results derived from computer modelling or lab work.
ILN: What do you rate as your most important piece of research and why?
SP: I have two areas of research that I think have tremendous impact on longwall mining. One is shield support research. Our team was the first one to identify the advantage of two-leg shield support and promote its application over other types of shield supports. The UK Institution of Mining Engineers gave me the Oversea Award in 1992 for our two-leg shield work. It spoke well for our achievement in this area. Today, the two-leg shield is the industry standard.
The other is surface subsidence. Since the late 1970s, we have been collecting data on surface subsidence due to longwall mining, mainly in the northern Appalachian coal field. Based on this data, we first developed a subsidence prediction model and then subsidence damage mitigation methods. In the past 20 years, we have been using this model to protect and/or mitigate more than 200 surface structures, including all types of structures from simple ones, such as trailers, to highly sophisticated ones such as microwave transmission towers. This method has kept many coal longwall mines working continuously.
With this experience, I have also testified on several litigation cases and was able to convince the courts to return several mines to work in North America. It was most gratifying to see that in each case, several hundred miners returned to work after several months of mine closure.
ILN: You have written two comprehensive books about practical aspects of longwall mining operations. Can you briefly describe the process you followed in compiling a book on such a detailed and technical topic?
SP: I visit coal mines very often. Every time when I came back from a mine trip, I immediately write a note with sketches, sometimes with photos if allowed, about what I saw underground. I then circulate it around to those who went with me for comments. After that, I place and organise it into different topical files. When you try to write a note on what you see, there are many questions popping out. This is how I improve myself continuously about how to get the most out of a mine visit. Today when I go underground, I will and can spot many detailed items/events that most people do not even notice.
I am also an avid reader. I read regularly all trade and technical journals and newspapers and reports. I clip those articles that I think useful and organise them the same way as my mine tour notes. These files are my major sources for writing practical papers as well as ideas for practical research projects.
ILN: Your next book takes a look at some case studies of ground control accidents throughout recent history. Why that topic?
SP: I am now working on my second of four books that I plan to complete in the next three years. It’s called Ground Control Failure, a pictorial view of case studies. In the past 30 years, I did research and consulted on more than 200 case studies. I took many photographs, mainly on different types of ground control failures, including massive roof falls, massive pillar failure, cutters and roof falls, multiple-seam mining effects, floor heave, roof bolts as seen in roof falls, old workings, longwall collapse, gob caving, etc.
Over the years, many reviewers of my papers submitted for journal publication did not believe or had difficulties in comprehending what I described happened underground. So it has long been my project to put those photographs together for those interested and those who should know. Besides, it would be the first book ever published in that topic.
ILN: You developed the International Conference on Ground Control in Mining. What was the impetus for establishing that and how has its content changed over the years?
SP: In the 1970s, as I travelled to coal mines performing research in Appalachia, many practitioners did not know what ground control technology was available. Conversely, many research results were not realistic as the practitioners found out from their application experience. I also found that equipment played a key role in mine design; that most ground control products in use were developed by equipment manufacturers; and that any new products must be approved by regulatory bodies before it can be used in the mines.
Therefore, in order to advance the state-of-the-art in ground control, a forum was urgently needed whereby researchers, practitioners (mine operators and consultants), equipment manufacturers and government regulators could meet regularly and exchange information in a timely manner. This was why I organised the ground control conference series.
In terms of content, in the 1980s, longwall instrumentation and pillar design were the major topics. In the 1990s, it was...click here to read on.
