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By Stevenson I, Dickinson W, Taylor R. N

Despite flash smelting's widespread use little is known about the actual processes taking place in flash furnace shafts and comparatively few reports of sampling campaigns have appeared in the published literature. his paper reviews the previous reports of the use of horizontal trough samplers and analyses their expected collection efficiency. In the light of the deficiencies revealed by this analysis an isokinetic sampler was produced and a vertical sampling technique was also developed to obtain samples from directly below the burners in the shaft of the flash furnace at the Kalgoorlie nickel smelter. Comparison of the sizing of the samples obtained with the horizontal trough and isokinetic samplers confirmed the theoretical analyses and showed that the trough samplers were not collecting the fine particles. Besides providing data to validate mathematical models of the burners and shaft, chemical analyses of the shaft samples showed that the coal in the charge was reacting preferentially and that the plume of at least one of the burners was being deflected from its axial position. In the region directly below the burner there was evidence that the disperser on the burner was imparting more momentum to the coarser particles and that these were concentrating in the outer regions of the particle plumes issuing from the burners.

Jan 1, 1992

By M. K. Rizkalla

This paper discusses the time-dependent behaviour of rock when it involves the presence of several layers of rock strata in the vicinity of mine openings, mining in sequences and the placement of backfill. The paper describes numerical techniques which proved useful when such situations are encountered in practice. The model is elastoviscoplastic. At given time stations, short term loading or changes can be made to the creep behavior of the rock. The modelling technique is first described and is followed by simulations of stresses and displacements in a potash mine with the primary objective to demonstrate the effect of such aspects as mining and fill sequences in 3-D. This involves cutting finite elements representing the strip of the mining face and simultaneously filling those elements representing the newly placed fill. The stiffness of the fill varies with the degree of compaction at each point. In this way, the effect of the time of fill placement, the gap between the top of the fill and the back as well as the degree of compaction are simulated. The second example is a 2-D problem simulating the long term effect of backfill, as a material compacting with time, on the settlement of the layers above it as well as the closure of the room.

Jan 1, 1996

By R. V. Higgins

The results of two separate but related studies are given. In the first study, four equations were tested; the object was to determine which would produce a curve that would best fit data points that represent a trend of declining oil production in 90 California fields. Two conventional equations (the Arps and semilog) and two novel equations (extreme-c and double semilog) were tested. The curves were first fitted to the initial 9 years of the 15-year production data and then extrapolated for 6 years to determine how well the extrapolated curve would fit the data points. The generated curves were also extrapolated beyond the last data point to predict rates of future production. The results of the first study showed that no equation was clearly superior to the others in all respects. The semilog equation resulted in the best fit to production data for the first 9 years, but the Arps and extreme-c equations produced a better fit for the extrapolated data for the period of 9 to 15 years. The Arps and extreme-c also gave more realistic production rates when extended to the point where cumulative production equaled reserves. A second study was made to determine if the least-squares technique applied to the Arps equation would result in more accurate extrapolations. The merits of the logarithmic and the nonlogarithmic forms of the Arps hyperbolic equation were also tested. For the logarithmic expression, it was found that one of the constants of the Arps equation reached a value so small or so large that the equation was not applicable to the data of 40 of the 90 California fields. The nonlogarithmic form of the Arps equation was applicable to neither the same 40 fields nor to a few additional ones. When the data and the Arps equation were compatible, the use of the least-squares technique as compared with other methods improved the extrapolation accuracy somewhat.

Jan 1, 1971

By David W. Cannon, Russell V. Mann

In a dispersion of particles in liquid a net charge will develop at the particle-liquid interface. This surface charge is usually due to the adsorption of charged material from solution. The existence of this surface charge gives rise to the formation of the electric double layer of counter-ions which surrond the charged particle. The particle surface charge and the electrostatic repulsion which exists between similarly charged particles is the primary stabilization mechanism for lyophobic colloids (1). The separation of charge which occurs at the particle-liquid interface gives rise to several dynamic phenomena associated with colloidal systems or with solid-liquid interfaces in general. These phenomena are known as electrokinetic phenomena and the four classic electrokinetic phenomena are; electrophoresis, electroosmosis, streaming potential, and sedimentation or Dorn potential. The actual driving force for electrokinetic phenomena is not the surface charge per se, but the charge at the interface between the liquid which is hydrodynamically bound to the particle surface and the bulk fluid. This interface is known as the slipping plane or the plane of shear and the potential at this interface is the zeta potential (2). The factors linking the electrokinetic phenomena is that they involve a relative motion between the liquid and the charged particle or solid surface and the driving force is the zeta potential of the solid. In addition to the four classic electrokinetic phenomena there are two additional electrokinetic effects in disperse systems; the electro-acoustic effects. When an alternating electric field is applied to a cooloidal dispersion the particles will move in the field due to their net zeta potential. If there is a density difference between the particles and the fluid this motion will result in the development of an acoustic wave. The effect was discovered at Matec and has been termed the Electrokinetic Sonic Amplitude or ESA (3). ESA is the pressure amplitude generated by the colloid per unit applied electric field strength and has SI units of pascals per volt per meter. When an alternating pressure field (acoustic wave) is applied to a colloidal dispersion the inverse of the ESA effects occurs. A density difference between the disperse phase and the continuous phase leads to a relative motion between the particles and the surrounding liquid. This means that there will be a periodic displacement between the charged particle and the oppositely charged counter-ions in the electric double year. This displacement results in the development of an alternating dipole moment at the frequency of the applied field. This effect is termed the Ultrasonic Vibration Potential or UVP and was first predicted for electrolyte solutions by Debye in 1933 (4). UVP is measured in units of volts per unit velocity amplitude of the applied acoustic field or volts per meter per second. In 1938, Rutgers (5) and Hermans (6) pointed out that the effect would also be present in colloidal dispersions. A detailed theory for UVP effects in colloids, also called CVP, was first presented by Enderby in 1951 (7). Extensive studies of the UVP in electrolytes have been carried out by Yeager et al (8). Recently, O'Brien (9) has developed a general theoretical treatment of electro- acoustic effects in colloids and has derived a reciprocal relation linking ESA and CVP effects. The most commonly studied electrokinetic phenomena is electrophoresis. Electrophoresis is the movement of charges particles in an applied electric field. The velocity of the particle divided by the applied electric field strength is the electrophoretic mobility of the particle. The zeta potential can be calculated from this mobility (2). The magnitude of both the ESA and CVP effects are directly proportional to the electrophoretic mobility of the particles. The mobility determined by the two electro-acoustic effects is the dynamic or AC mobility of the particles.

Jan 1, 1990

By Tomek Ulatowski

This presentation discusses the necessary ingredients for the creation of an acceptable credit structure, i.e., the structure that enables the borrower to attract the funding from different groups of lenders. As the amount of debt in the capitalization of new projects increases, it becomes quite critical that the mining venture sponsors obtain funding in a manner which maximizes the project economics. Attention normally is focused on the inherent operating cost characteristics of a venture such as the cost of mining, milling, transportation, smelting, and refining. The projected costs are derived from lengthy feasibility studies often taking millions of dollars and years to prepare. For a variety of reasons as the amount of equity directly provided by the sponsors declines, the balance must be made up from external credit sources. As a result, once the project becomes operational, debt service requirements assume crucial importance. For most new ventures, in the early years of production, the total amount of periodic debt amortization charges together with the projected interest expenses equals or exceeds the total operating cost. Utmost care must be taken, therefore, to reducing these costs which will then increase the chances for the implementation of the project. Project sponsors must carefully evaluate different funding sources in terms of their potential economic impact and, concurrently, evaluate alternative credit structures in order to be able to attract the selected funding vehicles. In this presentation I will discuss credit sources in the order of their relative appeal; i.e., from the standpoint of maximizing rates of return to the project owners. The tenor of the credit, that is the period from signing a loan agreement to the time of last repayment under the loan agreement, is undoubtedly the most important variable in evaluating the attractiveness of debt sources. Therefore, I will begin by discussing debt sources with the longest maturities and will end with a description of credits with relatively shorter tenors. The availability of different funding possibilities will naturally depend on the geographic location of the proposed venture, the creditworthiness of the borrower and the sponsors, the project economics, and finally the actual liquidity conditions in the capital markets at the time that the funds are committed. U.S. LONG-TERM DEBT MARKET - PUBLIC OFFERINGS AND PRIVATE PLACEMENTS The long-lived nature of most mining projects dictates that the majority of the mine financing be raised from long-term sources. In today's world capital markets U.S. debt issues probably carry the longest maturities available. The maturities can range from 5 to 40 years. Various types of long-term corporate debt instruments can be differentiated from one another by their terms, seniority as to claims against the assets of the issuer, legal form, and whether issued privately or through a public offering. The terms of these debt issues vary widely. For example, the interest rate which is typically fixed at the time of issuance, is determined by the credit quality of the issuer, the maturity, the average life, the seniority of the debt, the quality of control covenants or type of assets pledged as security, and other exogenous factors such as: economic policy, general level of interest rates and cur-rent level of financing activity. The entire principal amount of the debt may be due and payable at maturity (known as a "bullet" maturity) or, more typically, through periodic repayments in equal or staggered amounts. Almost all such debt issues allow for prepayment at the option of the issuer, but require varying amounts of repayment penalties. Disbursements are made over a relatively short period after signing of the debt documentation which may not coincide with the actual funding needs of the project. Financial covenants can be quite stringent, covering areas such as the issuer's financial leverage, working capital, payment of dividends and other distributions, merger and acquisition activities, and limitations on the disposition of property. Long-term debt issues may also be distinguished by the seniority of their claims against

Jan 1, 1985

By M. Prats

The effect of a sand-filled vertical fracture of limited radial extent and finite capacity (fracture capacity is the product of the permeability and width of the fracture) on the flow behavior of a cylindrical reservoir producing an incompressible fluid through a centrally located well has been investigated mathematically. The shape of the lines of equal pressure near the fracture is essentially independent of the size of the reservoir, provided that the field radius is of the order of the fracture length or larger. For reasonable values of production rates and of fluid, reservoir and fracture properties, the total pressure drop between the end of the fracture and the well is gelrerally negligible compared with the pressure drop in the reservoir. With regard to production response, the effect of vertical fractures can be represented by the production response of an equivalent or effective well radius. For a high-capacity fracture, the effective well radius is a quarter of the total fracture length, decreasing with the fracture capacity. When invasion effects are simulated by decreasing the width of the damaged zone with distance from the well, the effect of formation damage around a fracture on the production response is not so seriolls as indicated by the literature. This suggests that frac fluids with a conventional filter-loss response are better than high-spurt-loss frac fluids, provided the effective permeability of the damaged zone is the same. INTRODUCTION This paper considers the effect of the fracture capacity, as well as the formation damage which can result from fracture treatments, on the productive capacity of vertically fractured wells. Other publications, notably those of van Poollen,l,2 consider these same effects. In addition to providing more general results for vertical fractures than are available from the liter- ature, the present paper gives the equivalent well radius of fractures having different lengths and capacities and, also, includes pressure distributions in and around the fractures. The effect of a damaged zone around a fracture on the production response was not found to be so great as that reported by van Poollen. 2 This difference probably stems from the fact that we consider a damaged zone which is widest (but is still small) near the well and thins out toward the extremities of the fracture, whereas van Poollen considers a damaged zone having a uniform width for the entire fracture length. Simple, but adequate, equations which describe the effect of these variables on production response are presented (in Appendixes A and B). Thus, results can easily be extended to values of the variables not specifically considered here. IDEALIZATION AND DESCRIPTION OF THE FRACTURED SYSTEM It is assumed that a horizontal oil-producing layer of constant thickness and of uniform porosity and permeability is bounded above and below by impermeable strata. The liquid is incompressible. It is assumed that, after the well is fractured, the cylindrical outer "boundary" is at a uniform potential, provided that it is not too near the fracture. The fracture system is represented by a single, plane, vertical fracture of limited radial extent, bounded by the impermeable matrix above and below the producing layer (reservoir).3 Fig. 1 indicates the general three-dimensional geometry of the fractured reservoir described above. If gravity effects are neglected, the flaw behavior in the reservoir will be independent of the vertical position ill the oil sand. This means that the flow behavior in the fractured reservoir can be described by the two-dimensional flow behavior shown in the horizontal cross section of the reservoir, Fig. 2. PARAMETERS The effect of a fracture on the pressure distribution in the fracture itself and in an otherwise undamaged (no skin) reservoir indicates that the pressure distribution is a function of three parameters.

By W. A. Tiller

The unidirectional freezing of a semiinfinite liquid from one end has been treated by calculating the solute and temperature distributions in the liquid and solid phases with time, when the solid-liquid interface advances at a rate proportional to (time)lt2. The nucleation probability for new grain formation is calculated as a function of the constitutional and thermal properties of the alloy, the pouring conditions and the catalytic efficiency of the nucleating agents. The transition from columnar crystal formation to equiaxed crystal formation is assumed to occur at a critical nucleation frequency for a particular alloy and the quantitative dependence of the ratio (columnar zone length/equiaxed zone length) upon the freezing conditions has been predicted. The effects of (i) fluid flow in the liquid, (ii) heat transfer through a mold wall, and (iii) a finite ingot length, have been explicitly tveated as departures from ideality. These departures from ideality are found to have very important consequences on the ingot stmcture. In Part I&apos; of this series, a qualitative description of the general ingot structure was developed. The factors that determine i) the ratio of the equiaxed zone length to columnar zone length and ii) the grain sizes in these zones, were discussed. In the present paper, topic (i) will be treated quantitatively, and it is intended that topic (ii) will be treated quantitatively in Part 111. The complete treatment has been split in this manner for ease of development and coherency of presentation. The treatments are quite mathematical in nature and, although some of the conclusions to Part 11 depend upon the treatment presented in Part 111, it was felt that the intended audience would find the material more readable and more useful in its present form. To this same end, it seems worthwhile to reiterate some of the qualitative aspects of grain nucleation during ingot solidification before embarking on the mathematical description. QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS In the conventional method of casting, a liquid alloy with a certain degree of superheat is poured into a mold. The outer rim of liquid metal cools rapidly to the liquidus temperature of the alloy and begins to undercool. As the degree of undercooling increases, nuclei of solid begin to form in this chill layer, this nucleation being catalyzed by certain heterogeneous particles in the liquid. The grains in the chill layer which are generally of random orientation, begin to grow inwards because of heat conduction through the mold. The grains usually develop a columnar shape since the frequency of nucleation of new grains in the liquid ahead of the advancing interface is generally insufficient to seriously impede the growth of the original grains. Due to the slow diffusion rate of solute in the liquid, a solute distribution is formed in the liquid adjacent to the interface which is either an excess or a depletion if the partition coefficient, ko, of the solute is < 1 or > 1, respectively. Thus, the liquidus temperature of the liquid adjacent to the interface is a function of position. The actual temperature in the liquid is also a function of position and the temperature gradient at the interface decreases as the interface moves away from the mold wall. Since the rate of advance of the interface decreases with time, the equilibrium temperature distributions and the actual temperature distributions as a function of interface position, X, can be illustrated as in Fig. 1. Thus, a region of liquid may exist in which the actual temperature is below the liquidus temperature. This liquid is contitutionally supercooled and therefore unstable with respect to the nucleation of new grains. Now, since the supercooling in Fig. 1 increases as the interface moves further away from the mold wall, the nucleation rate of new grains will increase. When the nuclea-

Jan 1, 1962

By E. H. Lee, F. J. Fayers

Problems in reservoir analysis can usually he cupressed in terms of a system of nonlinear partial difjerential equations. A rnethod for .setting physically reasonable boundary conditions for these systerrls by ayplication of the theory of characteristics is discussed. A short description i.c. given of the technique for finding chnmcteristics of general first order and second orrler equations. Specific examples are quoted jrorn eqrrations occurring in theoretical reservoir studies. The princip1e. ossocicred wit11 the use of chnracteristic to set physically realistic boundary conditions me developed, and thr method is discussed in terms of boundary condition for the noncupillary, compressible, two-phase flow problen: jor the cupillary, ir~cowlpressible, two-phase flow problems for the tlrtergent flooding prohlenl; as for the compressible. noncapillary, two-phase flow pro11letn. INTRODUCTION In most problcms in reservoir analysis the physical situation is described by a system of nonlinear partial differential equations. The general solution to the set of equations usually comprises a wide range of functions ancl a particular solution is normally selectetl by applying suitable boundary conditions to the problem. In some cases it is clear from the physical situation what form the boundary conditions should take, but it is usually desirable to have an independent mathematical check of the suitability of the chosen conditions. From the mathematical standpoint, a system of partial differential equations with boundary conditions is said to be properly set if the combination determines a unique solution which is continuously dependent on the equation and the boundary conditions. Such a solution is sometimes termed "reasonable". In investigating the properties of the mathematical representation, it is useful to determine the structure of the system by the application of the theory of characteristics. This theory determines in the space of the independent variables, lines or surfaces which play a special role in thc system&apos;s behavior. The characteristics determine the possibility and nature of the propagation of discontinuities in the derivatives of the dependent variables. Along the characteristics certain differential relations hold which for some problems allow a so- lution to be obtained analytically. In the case of hyperbolic equations the characteristics can bc used as 3 basis for a numerical solution. If a complicated nonlinear system is to be solved, a study of behavior of the characteristics will indicate what boundary conditions should be chosen. By using the method of characteristics, several advances have rccently been made in solving reservoir engineering problems. Sheldon, Zondek and Cardwell&apos; have discussed how the the method may be used grap-phically to solve the incompressible two-phase displaccmerit problem when the gravity term is included in the equations. Fayers and Perrine&apos; have applied the method to study the equations representing detergent flooding. When compressibility and solution-gas effects are introduced into the two-phase flow problem, the equations and their characteristics become more complicated. It will be seen that in this problem the characteristics are useful for indicating a reasonable set of boundary conditions but cannot readily be used to compute a numerical solution. This problem has been solved on the IBM 701 using normal finite difference methods hy West, Garvin and Sheldon." The material to be prcscntcd in this report is divided into three sections. The first discusses the determination of the characteristics of first and second order partial differential equations; the second describes the selection of suitable boundary conditions by the application of the principle that the future cannot affect the past; the third discusses the use of characteristics for setting the boundary conditions of the two-phase solution-gas flow problem. A useful introduction to the method of characteristics has been given by Hildebrand.&apos; A summary of the method will be given in this section of the paper. The First Order Equation The quasi-linear equation of first order is It is linear in the partial derivations of z. The properly linear equation has the form The characteristics of are curves along which the

By O. D. Gonzalez, R. A. Oriani

A thermo-osmosis technique has been used to measure the heat of transport, Q* , of hydrogen and of deuterium dissolved in a iron and in nickel, and of hydrogen in Feo.6Nio.4 in the tempevature range 400° to 600°C. For all these systems, Q* is negative and has a large temperature coefficient; an isotope effect can be established for the solutes only in nickel. The magnitude of Q* is considerably larger than the activation energy, E , for migration in the case of these isotopes in a iron, so that all variants of the Wirtz model must be rejected. The phenomenological definition of Q* is developed to show that Q* is related to the mechanisms by which the activation energy is dissipated back into the lattice, and that Q*/E is a function of the ratios of the mean free paths of electrons and of phonons to the distance of jump of the diffusing atom. A correlation is shown to exist between the sign of Q* in thermal diffusion and that of the effective charge in electro migration, and may be understood as due to the large ratio of the mean free path of electrons to that of phonons. THE study of nonisothermal diffusion in the solid state is of interest because certain aspects of the mechanism of diffusion are made manifest which remain concealed though still present in the isothermal case. The thermodynamics of irreversible processes characterizes nonisothermal diffusion, known as thermal diffusion or as the Ludwig-Soret effect, by a quantity, Q*, called the heat of transport, which essentially measures the sign and the magnitude of the steady-state concentration gradient produced by the imposed temperature gradient. The problem then is to understand the quantity Q* at the atomistic level. There does not exist a theory for the atomistic interpretation of the heat of transport. There are, however, two classes of simple models which seem to afford some physical insight into Q*. Wirtz&apos;s model1, z and its subsequent generalizations partition the activation energy, E, for the migration of the atom spatially about the region of the migrating atom, so that Q* is the difference between the portion of the activation energy centered about the original site of the jumping atom and that portion about the arrival site. Clearly, the magnitude of Q* cannot on this model be larger than the activation energy for migration. The model of Oriani3 also considers the spatial distribution of E not only before but also after the atomic jump, and Q* is related to the variation of the spatial distribution of E that is produced by the jump. The simplest kind of system with which to compare the consequences of these ideas is the interstitial solid solution, since one may easily choose a temperature at which only the interstitial component moves, the solvent lattice serving as a completely satisfactory frame of reference. Thus, one avoids complications arising when both species in a binary system move. In addition, one avoids the necessity of knowing the energy for the formation of a vacancy, something which is needed for the analysis of thermal-diffusion data on metals which diffuse by the vacancy-exchange mechanism. However, the number of well-measured interstitial systems is extremely small, and, in particular, there are almost no data in the published literature for the temperature dependence of the heat of transport. If one works with solutes which are gases in the pure state at ordinary temperatures, one may use the technique of thermo-osmosis4 which permits thermal diffusion to be measured over a small temperature difference so that the temperature dependence of Q* can be more easily determined. The choice of dissolved hydrogen in iron and nickel was based on these considerations as well as on the desire to look for an isotope effect associated with localized

Jan 1, 1965

By N. Campbell

"The fault under consideration follows a northerly trend past the west; side of the original settlement of Yell ow knife; which is situated 600 miles; north of Edmonton and 400 miles from the Northern Alberta Railway; terminus at Waterways; Alberta. The mining properties chiefly concerned; include the southern part of the Giant claims; on the east side of the fault; and the Con-Rycon-Demelt claims; on the west side 3 1/2 miles to the south.; Geological data were also obtained from the eastern part of the A.Y.E.; property; which lies south of the Giant claims; and from the Negus; Meg; Yellorex; and Kam properties; which are south and southeast of the ConRycon-; Demelt claims (see Frontispiece; also Fig. 5).Recognition of the major faults in the Yellowknife Bay area, including the West Bay fault, which appears to be the greatest, resulted from the work of A. W. Jolliffe (formerly of the Geological Survey of Canada) in 1935 and subsequent years. It has been stated with little exaggeration that these faults rank with the largest known steeply dipping dislocations of the earth's crust.In the winter of 1939, a mineralized shear zone named the 'Creek vein' was found on the Giant property. It was noted that the space relationship between this shear zone and a body of quartz-feldspar porphyry is roughly the same as that between the Con C-4 shear zone and a body of acid flows lying north of the Con property. Coupling this relationship with the assumption that the movement along the fault is dominantly horizontal, it was postulated that the Giant shear zone represented the faulted extension of the Con C-4 shear zone.As geological information became more extensive, certain weaknesses in this concept became apparent, and when spectacular orebodies were discovered on the Giant property in 1944 the question of possible faulted extensions became an important consideration. Consequently, in the spring of 1944, an extended investigation was undertaken, the results of which are embodied in this paper."

Jan 1, 1954

By Brian Wilson, Megan Atkinson, Richard Diggle, Nathan Sweeney

"Ruskin Dam, located near Mission, British Columbia, was constructed in 1929 and 1930 and comprises of a concrete gravity dam structure founded on bedrock. At the right abutment, which consists mostly of dense to very dense sands and silt, the dam abuts against overburden soils, and connects to a cutoff wall system consisting of sloping concrete slabs. Significant seepage and piping issues were encountered during first filling of the reservoir in 1930. In 2012, BC Hydro, the owner of the dam, awarded a contract for the construction of seepage control measures at the right abutment, including construction of a plastic concrete cut-off wall extending upstream of the dam, a plastic concrete seepage training wall extending downstream of the dam, tie-in of the new cutoff wall to the dam, consisting of jet grouting of the soils adjacent to the dam to allow for the construction of the special cutoff connecting the cutoff wall to the dam, and construction of additional jet-grouting ground improvement downstream of the dam.Integral to the upgrade was the requirement for the special tie-in cutoff wall, consisting of a highly flexible, impermeable membrane to connect the concrete dam to the new, 1 m thick plastic concrete cutoff wall. The tie-in extends vertically into bedrock through the dam and jet grout columns constructed adjacent and beneath the overhanging portion of the dam at the right abutment. The membrane is required to survive the anticipated earthquake induced deformation between the dam and the abutment soils.This paper describes the processes used to develop a material suitable to meet the specified flexibility and permeability criteria, as well as the innovative construction techniques utilized to construct the slot and place the bituminous material within it. The final dimensions of the slot were in the order of 7 m long by 25 m deep by 0.17 m wide. The bituminous material was placed under a head of water which was required to maintain stability of the slot, and was placed at temperatures in excess of 120 degrees Celsius."

Jan 1, 2017

By Adam Bezuijen, Tiago Gerheim Souza Dias

"The construction of mechanized tunnels in soft ground has evolved significantly over the last 20 years, especially in the control of the face pressure and the closure of the soil-lining void to reduce the induced settlements. On the other hand, several mechanisms of the TBM excavation cycle are still not taken into account for routine design calculations, such as the increment of water pressures in front of the tunnel face, the flow of excavation fluids around the shield, the dynamic equilibrium between the grout pressures and the excavation convergence, among others. This paper discusses specifically the issue of face pressures and how several mechanisms, which are routinely not considered, can be easily verified and incorporated into the state-of-practice of design. INTRODUCTION The stability of underground excavations is traditionally assessed through analytical solutions based on the lower bound theorem of plasticity (Atkinson and Potts 1977; Mühlhaus 1985) or the limit equilibrium method (Anagnostou and Kovári 1994; Messerli et al. 2010). These methodologies depend on the tunnel geometry, certain ground parameters and the support pressure. When conventional construction methods are used, the internal support pressure is an abstract representation of the combined effects of partial excavation, ground reinforcement, and the different support elements. The use of closed-face tunnel boring machines (TBM) changed this perspective, as the magnitude of pressures acting on the excavation boundary could be controlled in a more direct way. In front of the TBM the ground is excavated as the cutterhead rotates and the cutting tools scrape the ground from the tunnel face while additives are injected to condition the material. Water, polymers, bentonite, and foam can be used as additives under different conditions (Thewes et al. 2012). The loosened ground with additives, herein referred to as the mixture, flows through the openings at the cutterhead and into the excavation chamber. This mixture is kept pressurized to support the face."

Jan 1, 2016

By Tatsuo Inoue, Marnoru Mizuno, Toru Matsuoka, Kenichiro Abe

"The distribution of particle reinforcements and the residual stresses in metal matrix composite are simulated by considering the motion of particles and the solidification of matrix associated with temperature variation in the course of centrifugal casting process. In the analysis, a heat conduction equation including heat generation due to latent heat and also mechanical work as well as heat input from successively accumulated element on the air/metal boundary is solved by the finite element technique. After the movement of particles subjected to the centrifugal force and drag are analyzed, the residual stresses are elucidated by using a unified constitutive equation which can describe the behavior both in liquid and solid states. Results of the simulation are compared with the experimental data, and the validity and utility of the procedure is confirmed.IntroductionProcess simulation of metal matrix composite (MMC) is required to determine the mechanical properties of the materials and the efficient process and conditions of the fabrication. Properties of bonding matrix with reinforcements in the course of the processing, for example, affects the strength of the composite, while the final costs of the productions depends on the efficiency of fabrication. Therefore, the simulation of processing of MMC is prerequisite in order to clarify the mechanism to fabricate the material which has been expected to maintain high mechanical properties and the cost performance.Some techniques of processing MMC[l] have been developed so far. Among them, the centrifugal casting technique [2-5] has many attractive characteristics as processing of the MMC: The centrifugal casting technique makes the reinforcements such as particles or short fibers to be distributed in the radial direction by the centrifugal force acting on reinforcements due to the difference in density between reinforcements and matrix. Since the distribution of reinforcements affect the mechanical properties of MMC, the composite with functionally gradient mechanical properties can be provided by the centrifugal casting technique."

Jan 1, 1994

By Alan Mayton, Bertrand Valero, Farid Amirouche

Handling of heavy vehicles such as tractors, trucks and buses require a large roll stiffness which causes large high accelerations at the seat level during impacts. To provide comfort and minimize the energy transfer from the chassis and the seat a pneumatic active seat suspension is proposed. An active seat suspension design and control algorithm under development at the University of Illinois at Chicago, UIC, is being developed and tested. Preliminary results are presented in this paper. The design of a passive suspension typically consists of optimizing the value of two parameters: the stiffness and the damping of the suspension. The general dynamic performance of the suspension is limited to the conditions under which these parameters were obtained. A change in the input conditions might lead to poor suspension and an amplification of the vibration transmitted to the body. The focus of this paper is a robust, semi-active suspension system with a variable controlled damping and using the body response an index measure to minimize the acceleration at the interface of the seat and operator. A summary of existing suspensions, such as MR and ER fluids, and spring loaded and dual valve shock absorbent will be discussed to highlight the need of a semi-active pneumatic suspension system design. Methods A model of the proposed suspension was developed in MATLB (Simulink) and different control strategies for the valve position in relation to the cylinder pressure tested. The effects of stiffening and softening resulting from pressure changes in the cylinder were examined. The vertical accelerations of the seat was computed for different control strategies and configurations of the suspension and compared to the response of a passive seat suspension. A lump -mass model was created to represent the human body including the head, the upper, middle and lower torso as well as the legs. The connective forces between body segments were modeled through modal analysis techniques from previous experiments at the Vehicle Technology Laboratory. ISO standards and absorbed power were used to evaluate the different configuration of the seat suspension system in relation to the dynamic response of the operator. Results Initial results of the semi-active suspension system show a significant reduction in the RMS value of the acceleration of the seat. A reduction of the total absorbed power by the operator is expected to provide an insight into the control strategies adapted in the active suspension.

Jan 6, 2006

By Jianmin Qin, Raja V. Ramani

In this paper, the results of a research study on airborne dust transport in a full scale simulated longwall face are presented. The simulated longwall face was set up in the Lake Lynn Laboratory mine of the U.S. Bureau of Mines to conduct experiments under controlled conditions. The controlled parameters in the experiments were the dust dispersion rate, dust size distribution, density of the dust, air velocity, and the rate of travel of the dust generating source. The analyses of the experimental results on mass concentrations, particle size distributions, and real-time respirable dust concentrations are discussed. There are definite spatio-temporal trends between the location of the shearer, the concentration at any location in the face, and the dust generation rates. The size-consist and density characteristics of the source dust, the air velocity in the face, and the air leakage into the gobs all affect the concentration.

Jan 1, 1995

By D. O. LIVINGTON

(Presented by invitation at a meeting of the Spokane Local Section of the institute, Feb. 17, 1912.) THE Pilares de Nacozari mine is located in Sonora, 75 miles south of Douglas, Ariz. The town of Douglas is on the International Boundary and is the place at which the ores from the Bisbee mines are smelted. The Moctezuma Copper Co. owns the mines at Nacozari, and the copper-concentrates shipped to the Copper Queen smelter, at Douglas, make a good smelting-mixture with the Bisbee ores. The Moctezuma Copper Co. and the Copper Queen smelter at Douglas, as well as the railroad from Douglas to Nacozari, are owned by the Phelps Dodge Co. The ore-deposit occurs in the form of a large ellipse with a major axis of approximately 2,000 ft. and a minor axis of about 600 ft., the major axis bearing about 90 W. of N. The whole of this ellipse is more or less mineralized; the surface being principally an iron gossan with some occasional copper-stains. Below the oxidized zone, which is not more than 50 ft. deep, the minerals are pyrite and chalcopyrite, with occasional seams of chalcocite, the latter being rare. There appears to be no well-marked zone of secondary enrichment, the oxidized gossan over the greater part of the deposit changing suddenly to what is apparently the original unaltered ore. The copper-values are concentrated around the perimeter of the ellipse, and it is principally around this perimeter that the mining is done. The ore mined averages a little more than 3 per cent. of copper, with a small amount of silver, less than an ounce per ton. Some ore of considerably higher grade than this has been shipped, however, but the above average is of the mill-run. The ore is wider near the two ends of the ellipse than along the sides, and is mined in some cases to a width exceeding 200 ft. The country-rock for the first vertical 500 ft is a volcanic acid breccia, probably rhyolitic; below

Sep 1, 1912

By N. H. Emmons

THE work of a consulting engineer or manager, when controlling mining-operations, requires that he have all the information concerning the mine in as concise a form as possible, and as the ore-reserves and their depletion and enlargement are the vital points to be studied, it is well to have them kept up to date and in some convenient form. The present paper describes a method adopted by me, which shows in a very clear manner the ore-reserves in a mine. The case illustrated is that of a vein near enough to the vertical for the vertical elevation of the mine to be the main working-map. A flat ore-body would be represented on a similar plat, but instead of the horizontal thickness of the vein being shown in the circles, the vertical thickness would be inserted. Fig. 1 represents an ideal longitudinal elevation of a mine, plotted in the ordinary way, using 100-ft. blocks and section-lines. In a mine where the block-numbers are posted by the engineer underground, the system of keeping the ore-tonnages extracted from the different blocks is easily maintained, and the actual tonnages of ore extracted can be kept so that the surveyor can have a check on his estimate from time to time. The ore-reserve sheet, Fig. 2, should be the same size as the map it is to accompany. Each square is used for the description of the ore-reserve in the block it corresponds to on the elevation. Where the section-lines cross the levels a circle is drawn, in which are written the widths of ore at that point, these widths being used in the calculations of each block cornering in the circle. It has been found convenient to show the figures in black in the lower half of the circle when the actual widths of ore are known, and when it is necessary to make up the figures of probable ore, as at the time of making

Jun 1, 1912

By Yoshinori Kurumada, Tatsuo Nagatsu, Keiji Uchida

"Cement deep mixing method has been utilized in the process of construction of an underwater tunnel in Singapore. The soil was improved by this method to prevent undesirable heaving of the soil below the excavated area. Quality control experiments approved the effectiveness of CDM method in increasing the strength of the soil and prevention of undesired heave of the ground. The process of the construction of this project and the quality control experiments results are discussed in this paper.INTRODUCTIONThe Marina Coastal Expressway is a 5.3 km long underwater highway tunnel with five lanes in each direction. It mostly comprises a twin box culvert structure (53.3 m exterior width and 10.89 m height) and was opened by the Land Transport Authority of Singapore (LTA).The contract zone C485 was the most challenging area of the construction; it involved a 700 m long underwater tunnel of which 400 m was built beneath the seabed at the mouth of the Singapore River. A double steel pipe sheet pile wall was built as a temporary cofferdam to keep water out of the excavation site, and the cut-and-cover method was used for excavation. In order to ensure a sufficient cross-sectional area for the flow of the Singapore River, the construction was divided into two phases focused on the left bank (Stage 1) and right bank (Stage 2).The Cement Deep Mixing (CDM) method was used to improve the ground, which comprised soft marine clay, to ensure safety during the excavation. The efficiency of this method in increasing the soil’s strength was approved previously. The design standard strength was quck = 800 kPa. Based on the study conducted after the construction, the average the Unconfined Compression Strength (UCS) of the soil stabilized by the CDM method was quf =3,000 kPa. This paper discusses the effect of the CDM soil improvement construction on the reduced displacement from the excavation and the quality control of the soil improvement."

Jan 1, 2015

By J. Ndlovu, R. Hundermark

Keywords: Anglo Platinum, Polokwane Smelter, pyrometallurgy, metallurgy, platinum, platinum group metals, PGM, base metals, nickel, copper, sulphide smelting, electric furnace, Söderberg, electrode, matte, slag, flash drying, matte casting, crushing, granulation Anglo Platinum?s Polokwane Smelter is situated outside Polokwane, in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. Wet concentrate is received from various concentrators along the Eastern Bushveld Complex, with 60% of the total concentrate received being from UG2 reef and 40% from Merensky reef. The concentrate grade differs from 35 g/t to 110 g/t, and from this a PGM-rich nickel-copper matte is produced. The furnace matte produced is sent to the ACP converter in Rustenburg. The Anglo Platinum concentrators, from which concentrate is received, are Lebowa, Potgietersrus, Amandelbult, and Union, as well as the joint venture Modikwa. The concentrate is fed to two flash dryers that utilise coal-fired, fluidized-bed hot-gas generators to produce the hot gas that will drive off the moisture, leaving a fine bone-dry concentrate to feed to the furnace. The dry concentrate is pneumatically transferred to a storage silo before being transferred to the feed bins situated above the furnace. Lime, if required as a flux, may be transferred separately to the furnace feed bin by a pneumatic system. The concentrate and lime is fed from the feed bins onto airslides and into the furnace. The feed rate is automatically controlled, and the system is set up to optimize the power to feed ratio. The electric furnace is nominally rated at 68 MW and the power is transferred into the furnace using six 1.6 m diameter Söderberg electrodes. Concentrate is melted by energy generated when electric current passes through the electrodes and resistive slag layer. On melting, two immiscible phases form: slag and matte. Furnace matte, containing the bulk of the base metal sulphides and PGMs, is denser than slag and collects naturally at the bottom of the furnace. The furnace is constructed of a combination of refractory brick and water-cooled copper coolers. The furnace sidewalls and hearth are cooled by air drawn through the area by cooling fans. The hearth and matte zone are constructed from refractory bricks. The copper coolers reside only in the slag zone of the furnace along the entire perimeter of the furnace. One staggered row of plate coolers is installed above the waffle coolers along the perimeter of the furnace. Matte is tapped periodically through one of the two matte tapholes into 35-ton refractory-lined ladles, and cast into matte ingots on a casting machine. The cooled matte is discharged onto a concrete slab for cooling and then transferred by front-end loaders to the crushing plant. The matte is first crushed in a jaw crusher and then a Rhodax cone crusher to a size of 2 mm before it is loaded into tankers and sent to the ACP. The low-grade slag is tapped from the furnace through a water-cooled copper insert into a short water-cooled copper ?hot launder? which discharges into a granulation cold launder. The granulated slag slurry flows to three rake classifiers, from which the coarse slag is discharged onto a conveyor to dewatering silos. The dewatered slag from the silos is dumped. The water overflow from the classifiers reports to two thickeners where the water is clarified, and the thickener underflow is returned to the rake classifiers. The smelter is a zero-effluent plant and all the water from the slag silos where the slag is dewatered, as well as the storm water, is pumped to the process water dam from where it is pumped back into the plant for process water use. The off-gas from the furnace is drawn through a forced draught cooler and into a high temperature baghouse. The dust collected in the baghouse is pneumatically transferred into bins above the furnace and is fed via the concentrate airslides. The cleaned off-gas is then vented through the main stack.

Jan 1, 2006

By Lin Li

A reliability based analysis method for a drilled shaft stabilized slope system is presented in this paper. In the past effort, a deterministic method using the limiting equilibrium method of slices for determining the global factor of safety of a slope reinforced by a row of drilled shafts was developed using the soil arching concept. The drilled shaft stabilization mechanisms for the slope were treated as the drilled shaft induced soil arching, which reduces the driving forces on the down slope side of the drilled shaft. The effect of drilled shafts induced soil arching on the reduction of the driving stresses in the limiting equilibrium slope stability analysis was quantified by the load transfer factor through extensive finite element simulation studies. A semi-empirical equation was also developed for expressing the load transfer factor as a function of the soil properties, including strength parameters and unit weight as well as the slope geometry and soil profile, the location and spacing of the drilled shaft, and the dimension of the drilled shaft. However, due to the inherent uncertainties of the soil properties and the model error of the semi-empirical load transfer equation, a modification of the deterministic method into a probabilistic method is developed in this paper. The Monte Carlo statistical method is used to generate random variables for the soil strength parameters based on the prescribed probability characteristics, including mean, COV, and the probability distribution function. In addition, the modeling error of the load transfer factor is also treated as a random variable in the Monte Carlo simulation method, in which the mean, COV, and probability distribution function for the bias of the semi-empirical equation are used. The developed theories were coded into a computer program for analyzing complex slope geometry and slope profile conditions. Two examples are shown in the paper to illustrate the analysis results of the developed probability approach for determining the reliability of a drilled shaft stabilized slope system.

Jan 1, 2017