A subterranean coupler for slidably receiving a pipe therethrough and for coupling the pipe to a subterranean vessel. The coupler is mountable to a reinforcing grid prior to the coupler and reinforcing grid being cast in a concrete wall of the subterranean vessel. The coupler includes a longitudinally-extending axis and a cylindrical wall defined about the axis, the wall having an inner surface, an outer surface, and first and second ends. The coupler further includes a plurality of radially-ext...

An electrical resistance subterranean heater is provided which is cemented directly in a well borehole without a casing in the borehole within the zone to be heated. The absence of the casing results in an economical installation.

A subterranean drainage unit for protecting a structure by intercepting subsurface fluid flows, comprising a sheet base member having parallel first and second planar surfaces, regularly spaced discrete frusto-conical members projecting from the first planar surface creating intersecting channels to allow for lateral and vertical uninterrupted flow of fluid, the second planar surface being constructed and arranged to cohesively adhere to the surface of the structure being protected and a filter ...

Method and apparatus for mining an underground ore stratum with a drilling and mining tool which first drills a hole into the strata as it is assembled section by section until a desired depth is reached. The tool includes an outer conduit that is screwed together and at least two stab fitted inner conduits that are rotatable relative to the outer conduit for providing at least three conduit systems for conducting processing fluids into and out of the ore strata; and means for independently cont...

A panel assembly for use as a combination drainage and insulation member, primarily on the exterior surface of subterranean walls. The assembly has an insulating board with channels on one side of the board. A fabric which is pervious to water and impervious to soil particles, and has a high modulus, is attached to the channeled side of the board. The resulting board is highly effective to collect water and channel it downwardly toward a drainage pipe which may be part of the drainage system, an...

One embodiment of the present invention provides for a subterranean structure, having a continuous ribbon slab having a plurality of flights fabricated from concrete. The ribbon slab defines periodic openings therein which generally align between adjacent flights. Another embodiment provides for a method of fabricating a subterranean structure. The method includes excavating soil to form a downward sloping ramp, and forming a concrete slab on the downward sloping ramp. The method further include...

The invention discloses a method of effecting fracturing in a subterranean formation utilizing substantially constant density fluids whereby proppant segregation is minimized or eliminated within the formation. Fluid density is adjusted by varying the salt content or addition of a gas or gasifiable liquid or both as proppant is added to the treatment fluid.

A concrete cover for a subterranean construction includes a cast-in plastic handle which holds a piece of rebar in the cover and removably holds a piece of rebar externally of the cover.

A novel method for characterizing multilayer subterranean reservoirs comprising forming a single layer reservoir model representative of the flow parameters of the multilayer reservoir and developing a set of predicted flow rates from a numerical reservoir simulator. The predicted flow rates are scaled to form a set of dimensionless flow rates. Differences between actual reservoir flow rates and predicted flow rates obtained from the dimensionless flow rates, are minimized automatically to obtai...

A heat venting system for subterranean transformer enclosures for sidewalks or streets includes a vent guard that passes air but prevents solids and fluids such as destructive oil from dropping upon the transformers. Used in connection with a vent plate having very many small holes will prevent leaves and sticks from clogging the vent and destroying the transformers.