KAROLY CHARLES KOCSIS portrait
  • Department Chair, Mining Engineering
  • Professor, Mining Engineering
801-585-5176

Research Statement

Between 2021 - 2022, as Professor and Principal Investigator (PI) in the Mining Engineering Department, University of Utah, I was involved in a $460,000 research project funded by the Alpha Foundation “Application of Pressure Balancing Techniques at the West Elk Coal Mine”. Pressure balancing is a ventilation technique that can be used to reduce or eliminate the egress of oxygen to the mine gob (in-gassing), thus reducing the risk of spontaneous combustion. At the same time, pressure balancing can also be used to reduce the risk of methane seeping into the mine ventilation circuits from the gob (out-gassing), when the barometric pressure changes on the surface. Two pressure balancing chambers have been constructed at the West Elk Mine, Colorado, operated by the Mountain Coal Company (MCC), one in a mined-out area, and another close to the active area, near a longwall mine gob. Each chamber is equipped with an isolation stopping, safety doors, a nitrogen injection system, and a set of pressure and environmental monitoring sensors. Thus far, several pressure balancing tests for different ventilation conditions have been conducted to assess the ability of the chambers to hold a pressure differential between the gob and the chamber, and between the chamber and the entry in order to avoid in-gassing and out-gassing.

Between 2012 - 2020, as an Associate Professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, I have been conducting research as Principal Investigator (PI) and Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI) through grants and sponsored projects totaling over $3.5M, funded by federal agencies, private organizations, and the mining industry:

Research Keywords

  • ventilation automation
  • underground contaminant mitigation
  • underground atmospheric monitoring
  • mining methods
  • mine ventilation
  • mine emergency response
  • mine design
  • mine cooling systems
  • development of real-time dust monitors
  • Occupational Health and Safety
  • DPM control
  • BEVs

Presentations

  • Overview of Research and Development Work at the Mining Engineering Department, University of Utah - Seminar organized by Utah Mining Association. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 10/23/2023.
  • Review and Evaluation of Controlled Partial Airflow Recirculation (CPR) Systems Worldwide - Workshop organized by Resolution Copper, Rio Tinto. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 05/16/2023.
  • Development of a Real-Time Respirable Coal Dust and Silica dust Monitoring Instrument Using Photoacoustic Spectroscopy. Conference Paper, Refereed, Presented, 02/28/2023.

Grants, Contracts & Research Gifts

  • Development of an Occupational Mine Safety Program with the Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and environmental Health. PI: Charles Kocsis. Co-PI(s): Pratt Rogers. https://uofuhealth.utah.edu/newsroom/news/2024/01/... Utah Legislature, 06/01/2023 - 05/31/2033. Total project budget to date: $240,000.00
  • PRESSURE BALANCE AT WEST ELK. PI: KOCSIS,KAROLY CHARLES. ALPHA FOUNDATION FOR MINE SAFE, 09/01/2019 - 07/31/2023. Total project budget to date: $441,840.00

Languages

  • English, fluent.
  • Hungarian, fluent.
  • Romanian, fluent.

Research/Scholarship Projects

Publications

  • Kocsis, K.C., et al & Calizaya, F., Johnson, J., Dias, T., Nunes, N., Lindgren, E., Atchley, G, Polulos, J. (2023). Application of Pressure Balancing Techniques at the West Elk Coal Mine. Underground Ventilation. Vol. E&T, 10. Published, 09/18/2023.
    https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003429241-43
  • Arnott, W.P., et al & Arnott, W.P., Kocsis, K.C., Xiaoliang, W., Bankole, O., Nascimento, P., Taylor, S., Bingham, B., (2023). Real-time measurements of respirable crystalline silica, kaolinite, coal, and calcite. Underground Ventilation. Vol. 1, 8. Published, 09/18/2023.
    https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003429241-27
  • Kocsis, K.C., et al & Nascimento, P., Taylor, S.J., Arnott, W.P., Wang, S.L., Firouzkouhi, H. (2022). Development of a Real‑Time Respirable Coal Dust and Silica Dust Monitoring Instrument Based on Photoacoustic Spectroscopy. Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration Journal. Vol. 39, 9. Published, 08/20/2022.
    https://doi.org/10.1007/s42461-022-00653-6
  • Arnott, W.P., et al & Taylor, S.J., Nascimento, P., Kocsis, K.C. (2022). Real-Time Photoacoustic Measurements of Mass Concentration of Respirable Crystallin Silica Dust: Theory. Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration Journal. Vol. 39, 10. Published, 07/31/2022.
    https://doi.org/10.1007/s42461-022-00657-2
  • Halim., A., et al & Loow, J., Johansson, J., Gusrafsson, J., van Wageningen, A., Kocsis, K.C. (2022). Improvement of Working Conditions and Opinions of Mine Workers When Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) Are Used Instead of Diesel Machines — Results of Field Trial at the Kittilä Mine, Finland. Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration Journal. Vol. 39, 17. Published, 03/15/2022.
    https://doi.org/10.1007/s42461-021-00506-8