Utilisation of iron ore mine tailings for the production of geopolymer bricks

This study presents a methodology for making bricks, in a cost-effective and environmentally friendly manner, using the tailings produced from iron ore mines in Western Australia (WA). The study was based on the geopolymerisation process, which is known to conserve energy by reducing the emission of greenhouse gases. The reduction is accomplished by avoiding the processes of high temperature kiln firing, traditionally utilised when making bricks from sandy soils with high clay content. In this study, the sodium silicate was added to the mine tailings in powder form, as an activator for the formulation of the geopolymer bricks. The effects of the initial setting time, curing temperature, curing time and activator content on the unconfined compressive strength (UCS), water absorption and other durability properties of the bricks were investigated. X-ray diffraction analysis was performed to investigate the phase composition of the geopolymer bricks. The bricks achieved an UCS as high as 50.53 MPa for the optimum values of the parameters. Technically, the geopolymer bricks that were produced met both the American Society of Testing and Materials and the Australian Standards (AS) requirements for bricks. A cost analysis of the geopolymer bricks is also presented, and this shows that the cost of geopolymer bricks is lower than that of the commercial, fired clay bricks.     

基于FLUENT的全尾砂充填管道输送模拟试验与分析

以大红山铜矿为实例,运用FLUENT软件对全尾砂管道输送进行数值模拟和分析。在充填料浆力学参数基础上建立了数学模型,分别分析了充填料浆的浓度、流速、管径3个因素对管道输送的影响状况,最后选出最优参数。分析结果与大红山铜矿的实际相符合,同时表明FLUENT软件可以用来模拟计算矿山充填管道输送。模拟试验方法可为其他类似矿山参考借鉴。     

Chemical and Mineral Analysis of Flotation Tailings from Stratiform Copper Ore from Lubin Concentrator Plant (SW Poland)

ABSTRACT

The study involved the chemical and mineralogical analysis of actual tailings production from Lubin Concentrator Plant (KGHM Polska Miedz SA Group). KGHM Polska Miedz SA Group is the world’s leading company that mines and processes sediment-hosted stratiform copper deposits in SW Poland. From the beginning of copper ore mining, the problem of utilization and managing the deposited tailings has been discussed. Annually, all three concentrators produce above 30 million tons of flotation tailings. Lubin Concentrator Plant processes the most complex in upgradeability ore from the other two concentrators. The total loss of copper-bearing minerals in 0.020–0.071 mm size fraction was found to be 52%. The analysis of liberation showed that in fines (–0.020 mm) over 50% of sulfides is released while the amount of totally locked sulfides in the sample constitutes for 65%. The main cause of significant decline in the finest fractions should be attributed to inappropriate flotation time or too low collector dose. Insufficient liberation of sulfides in the coarser fractions can be a reason for the loss of copper in these fractions. The presented results of final tailings confirm the main cause of metal losses in tailings to be very complex mineral properties.     

Soft sensing of water depth in combined sewers using LSTM neural networks with missing observations

Information and communication technologies combined with in-situ sensors are increasingly being used in the management of urban drainage systems. The large amount of data collected in these systems can be used to train a data-driven soft sensor, which can supplement the physical sensor. Artificial Neural Networks have long been used for time series forecasting given their ability to recognize patterns in the data. Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) neural networks are equipped with memory gates to help them learn time dependencies in a data series and have been proven to outperform other type of networks in predicting water levels in urban drainage systems. When used for soft sensing, neural networks typically receive antecedent observations as input, as these are good predictors of the current value. However, the antecedent observations may be missing due to transmission errors or deemed anomalous due to errors that are not easily explained. This study quantifies and compares the predictive accuracy of LSTM networks in scenarios of limited or missing antecedent observations. We applied these scenarios to an 11-month observation series from a combined sewer overflow chamber in Copenhagen, Denmark. We observed that i) LSTM predictions generally displayed large variability across training runs, which may be reduced by improving the selection of hyperparameters (non-trainable parameters); ii) when the most recent observations were known, adding information on the past did not improve the prediction accuracy; iii) when gaps were introduced in the antecedent water depth observations, LSTM networks were capable of compensating for the missing information with the other available input features (time of the day and rainfall intensity); iv) LSTM networks trained without antecedent water depth observations yielded larger prediction errors, but still comparable with other scenarios and captured both dry and wet weather behaviors. Therefore, we concluded that LSTM neural network may be trained to act as soft sensors in urban drainage systems even when observations from the physical sensors are missing.     

涡流技术在降低水煤浆燃烧产物中有毒物质的应用

为了在试验台和半工业性试验时,确定水煤浆燃烧过程中释放的气体中有害气体的质量浓度,采用涡流燃烧工艺,对水煤浆燃烧时释放气体的成分进行了试验研究。结果表明:采用涡流燃烧工艺,由于化学不完全燃烧减少,气体释放物中的CO含量随燃烧室温度提高而降低,NOx含量甚至低于标准值。这主要是因为涡流燃烧室燃料燃烧温度相对不高;喷射水煤浆的颗粒在燃烧层停留时间长,可以完全燃烧。该水煤浆燃烧工艺可以减少有害物质向大气的释放。     

Geopolymerization reaction,microstructure and simulation of metakaolin-based geopolymers at extended Si/Al ratios

Metakaolin-based geopolymers were synthesized at Si/Al ratios of 1:1, 1.5:1, 2:1, 3:1, 4:1, and 5:1 by using silica fume as silica corrector to alter Si ratios. The microstructure and strength of these geopolymers were characterized through XRD, SEM, NMR and compressive strength measurements. The dissolving rates of Al and Si species in geopolymerization were measured, and freeze-dried N-A-S-H gel was characterized by FTIR spectra. Modelling and simulation were employed to calculate the binding energy of one Si atom and the total energy of geopolymers formed at various Si/Al ratios. At Si/Al ratio of 2:1, high concentrations of Si and Al species are dissolved from precursors, high contents of Si-O-T linkages are formed and the geopolymer is of high compressive strength. The mechanical strength of geopolymers at various Si/Al ratios is dependent on the formation of N-A-S-H gel, rather than the zeolitic nuclei or silicate derivatives. This study might provide fundamentals for the geopolymerization of mine tailings, which usually possess high Si/Al ratios.     

某铜钼尾矿回收长石的试验研究

福建某铜钼矿尾中K_2O质量分数为5.32%,Na_2O质量分数为2.49%,采用碱法工艺代替传统的酸法工艺进行处理回收长石,工艺流程为反浮选云母—反浮选石英—长石粗精矿磁选除铁。试验最终获得长石精矿中K_2O质量分数为7.48%、总回收率为39.89%,Na_2O质量分数为3.91%、总回收率为43.78%。该长石精矿符合玻璃及玻璃制品、陶瓷、磨料等原料标准。     

A Fifty Cent Rheometer for Waste Management of Environmentally Sensitive Ore Tailings

Abstract

Substantial progress has been made recently toward developing environmentally acceptable disposal strategies in the minerals industry. Typically disposal schemes incorporate a mechanical dewatering stage in which the material is concentrated before disposal. At higher concentrations many particulate suspensions will exhibit a yield stress which is of vital importance to the operation of the disposal scheme. The present paper illustrates how the slump test, previously used for determining the empirical flow properties of fresh concrete, has been adopted as a means for accurately measuring the yield stress. The slump test offers a quick and easy way of measuring yield stress without the need for sophisticated electronic equipment, thereby giving plant operators an effective tool for examining yield stress in the field. A simple theoretical model is briefly described and experimental results performed to validate the model.     

Microstructural,hydraulic conductivity and geochemical changes of drying mature fine oil sand tailings in column experiments

This study offers new insights into two-lift deposition of mature fine tailings under atmospheric drying. The interaction of newly added lift and former lift(s) was evaluated using column experiments in terms of volumetric water content, electrical conductivity (EC), hydraulic conductivity, geochemistry and microstructure. Water content and EC followed the same trend and decreasing of water content appears to be responsible for significant reduction in EC. Evaporation on top of the column reduced the water content to almost zero. The obtained results support the coupling between the hydraulic and chemical processes that should be considered by active operators.     

小浴比溢喷染色机的结构特征

小浴比溢喷染色机的结构特征,主要包括主体染液独立循环系统,为加料提供一个稀释过程,可有效控制低浴比下敏感色的均匀上染.通过自动控制染色过程,可避免小浴比条件下出现的织物折痕、染色不匀等现象.