Earth Resources Engineering Workshop; Washington, DC; October 5-6, 2015

为期一天的研讨会将于2015年10月6日在华盛顿的美国国家科学院举行。 一个主要目标是在政府代表和国家工程院地球资源工程科之间就地下工程的研究和教育开展对话。 讨论将主要集中在两个主题：1）公众担心水力压裂可能引发破坏性地震，以及2）采矿和岩石力学研究和教育的未来。 自20世纪40年代以来，水力压裂在石油工业中取得了巨大成功，是地热能，二氧化碳地下储存和钻井废水处理等几项工程计划的关键要素。 研讨会将探讨影响水力压裂引发地震的因素，以及为安全应用这项技术制定合理准则所需的研究。 矿产是美国和其他发达国家国民经济的重要基础，对国家安全至关重要。 随着矿井越来越深，安全、经济和环境问题的挑战越来越大，提高安全性和效率的研究现在至关重要。 在美国大学的几十年下降，采矿工程现在接近被淘汰作为一个认可的工程专业。该研讨会将寻求为美国确定一条现实的前进道路，以保持采矿工程专业知识。 在过去的几十年里，已经看到了许多建议，地下可能提供解决一些重要的国家问题。 如果能形成一个相互连接的裂缝网络，并使流体循环以经济地提取热量，那么5-6公里深处的热岩地热能资源是巨大的。 这需要了解耦合热-水-力-化学（THMC）过程和观察裂缝网络的起始、延伸和自适应控制。 基本上，地下的其他用途也需要同样的钻孔技术，如二氧化碳封存、钻井废水处理、钻孔采矿。 所有这些用途都需要更好地了解当地地质和构造/重力环境如何影响破坏性地震的刺激潜力。 需要比目前更详细地了解岩石在深度的工程行为。 本次研讨会将确定研究需求，以解决这些问题，同时通知更广泛的工程界的岩石力学研究对工程重大挑战的潜在影响。 研讨会还将讨论与提供采矿工程学位和岩石力学课程的美国大学数量减少有关的问题。随着岩石力学在解决许多关键问题中的重要性日益增加，美国必须培养更多而不是更少受过这一学科训练的工程师。 研讨会将探讨解决这一问题的潜在战略。

A one-day Workshop will be held October 6, 2015, at the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC. A primary goal is to develop a dialog between representatives of government and the Earth Resources Engineering Section of the National Academy of Engineering with respect to Research and Education in Subsurface Engineering. The discussion will focus primarily on two topics: 1) public fear that hydraulic fracturing may trigger damaging earthquakes, and 2) the future of mining and rock mechanics research and education. Used with great success in the petroleum industry since the 1940s, hydraulic fracturing is a key element of several engineering initiatives such as geothermal energy, underground storage of carbon dioxide, and disposal of wastewater from drilling. The workshop will explore the factors that influence the triggering of earthquakes by hydraulic fracturing, and the research that is needed to develop sound guidelines for the safe application of this technology. Minerals are the essential foundation of national economies in the United States and other developed nations, and are of vital importance to national security. Research to develop improved safety and efficiency is now critical as mines become deeper and challenges of safety, economics and environmental concerns rise. In decline at US universities for several decades, Mining Engineering is now close to being eliminated as an accredited engineering major. The workshop will seek to identify a realistic path forward for the U.S. to maintain mining engineering expertise. The past several decades have seen numerous suggestions that the subsurface may provide solutions to a number of important national problems. The geothermal energy resources of hot rock at depths of the order of 5-6 km are enormous, provided a network of interconnected fractures can be created and fluids circulated to extract the heat economically. This requires understanding of coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical (THMC) processes and observation of the initiation, extension, and adaptive control of the fracture network. Essentially the same borehole technology will be needed for other uses of the subsurface, such as CO2 sequestration, disposal of drill wastewater, borehole mining. All these uses require a better appreciation of how the local geology and tectonic/gravitational force environment affects the potential for stimulation of damaging earthquakes. A significantly more detailed understanding of the engineering behavior of rock at depth is needed than currently available. This workshop will identify research needs to address these problems, while informing the broader engineering community of the potential impact of rock mechanics research on engineering grand challenges. The workshop will also address the problems related to the diminishing number of U.S. universities that offer a degree in mining engineering and courses in rock mechanics. With the increasing importance of rock mechanics in the solution of many critical problems, it is essential that the U.S. produce more, rather than fewer, engineers trained in this discipline. The workshop will explore potential strategies for addressing this issue.