Parameters of hydraulic fracturing and disintegration of impervious rocks while preparing blocks for leaching

Conclusions 1. The maximum water injection pressure for hydrofracturing of Blyava ores was 12.1–12.9 MPa and for hydrodisintegration, 4.5–5.5 MPa. The calculated values of these pressures differ from the experimental ones by 20–25% and 25–36% respectively, which is satisfactory for natural-scale studies.2. The probability of hydrofracturing or hydrodisintegration of the mass depends a great deal on the distance between the packer and the borehole face. It has been demonstrated experimentally that hydrofracturing occurred at a distance of 0.1–0.6 m and only hydrodisintegration was noticed at a distance of 4–10.2 m. These data show that, all other conditions being equal, the packer (interpacker) spacing of the boreholes is of great importance for producing, in practice, some type of hydrodynamic impact on the rock mass.3. Water injection through boreholes into the ore body under conditions of hydrofracturing and hydrodisintegration showed the real possibility of establishing a hydrodynamic link between boreholes at distances of 5 m, 10 m, and greater.4. The technology and equipment developed by the Institute of Mining make it possible to prepare blocks of impervious ores for leaching by employing hydrofracturing and hydrodisintegration of rocks and creating in the block a borehole — slit — borehole system.5. As a result of suffosion of the ore, slime is released intensely from the drainage boreholes, which is typical for hydrofracturing and hydrodisintegration processes and for subsequent fluid injection under pressure. This may be used to augment the performance of the borehole — slit — borehole system.6. If conditions in the mining industry become favorable, it would be advisable to continue the operations, the essential features of which are elucidated in this paper.Translated from Fiziko-tekhnicheskie Problemy Razrabotki Poleznykh Iskopaemykh, No. 5, pp. 100–105, September–October, 1996.     

Simultaneous fabrication of a composite with low thermal expansion and high strength in the eucryptite — yttria-stabilized PSZ system

Low thermal expansion coefficient and high mechanical strength have been attained simultaneously in a composite with microstructures in which the low thermal expansion grains are surrounded by a continuous texture of the grains with high strength. Alloying eucryptite with yttria-stabilized PSZ (partially stabilized zirconia) simultaneously achieved the low thermal expansion coefficient, 1.45 × 10^–6, and the high bending strength, 220 MPa, by adjusting the composition and controlling the microstructures by changing the starting powders and the milling durations. Grain size and reactions between the coupled materials determined the critical processing conditions.     

Disaccharide analysis of human skin glycosaminoglycans in sun-exposed and sun-protected skin of aged people

The negative conduction effect of quinidine on each of the successive phases of the ventricular depolarization was investigated using an original noninvasive method: the spatial velocity electrocardiogram of the QRS complex (SVECG-QRS). We performed a randomized placebo-controlled trial in 10 healthy subjects with a single oral dose of quinidine (330 mg) or placebo. Electrocardiographic acquisition and processing (220 recordings for the complete trial) were performed using the Lyon vectorcardiographic program. For each SVECG-QRS curve, the position of seven specific points from A (onset of QRS) to G (end of QRS) were determined precisely. The six successive time intervals between these points (AB-FG) and five velocity values (B-F) were then calculated. The QRS complex was longer under quinidine than placebo (102.4 +/- 1.6 vs. 100.3 +/- 1.5 ms). The difference was at the periphery of statistical significance (p = 0.05), and this lack of statistical difference may be mainly due to the low serum levels of quinidine obtained at the peak of the concentration (1.46 +/- 0.4 mg/1). All six QRS time intervals were longer under quinidine, but only the BC interval was significantly different (9.3 +/- 1.1 vs. 18.8 +/- 1.1 ms; p < 0.05) suggesting a more pronounced negative conduction effect at the onset of ventricular depolarization. No significant modifications were observed for the velocity values. We conclude that (1) the negative conduction effect of quinidine is heterogeneous, but a further study with a higher dose of quinidine (concentration-dependent effect) is required to confirm this hypothesis and (2) the spatial velocity electrocardiogram of the QRS complex allows a detailed analysis of the ventricular conduction phases. The results of the measurement were found to be reproducible. This noninvasive tool could be used in clinical practice to assess effects of antiarrhythmic drugs on successive ventricular depolarization phases.     

Endoscopic treatment of vesicoureteral reflux in patients with myelodysplasia

PURPOSE: We assessed the usefulness of and indications for endoscopic treatment of vesicoureteral reflux in myelodysplasia patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 26 patients treated with intermittent catheterization was divided into 11 (16 ureters) with and 15 without vesicoureteral reflux. In 9 patients (13 ureters) endoscopic correction was performed with 3% atelo-collagen and without anesthesia at the outpatient clinic. In each ureter we obtained the sum of scores for 4 risk factors for upper urinary tract deterioration: bladder compliance less than 10 ml./cm. water, grade 2 to 3 bladder deformity, detrusor-sphincter dyssynergia and urethral closure pressure 50 cm. water or greater. RESULTS: No reflux was demonstrated immediately after the initial collagen injection but cystography 3 to 6 months later showed recurrent reflux in 5 ureters (38%). Repeat injection cured the reflux, with results persisting for an average of 17 months. Mean risk factor score for patients without vesicoureteral reflux was significantly lower than that for patients with reflux. In patients treated with intermittent catheterization and anticholinergic agents the mean score for ureters with an increased or unchanged reflux grade was significantly greater than for those with a decreased grade. CONCLUSIONS: Endoscopic treatment of reflux appears to be safe and useful in patients with myelodysplasia. The treatment is preferable in those with high risk factor scores due to the possibility of increased reflux grade in such patients.     

Implementation of creep-fatigue model into finite element code to assess cooled turbine blade

Turbine blades which are designed with airfoil cooling are subject to thermo-mechanical fatigue as well as creep damage. These problems arise due to thermal cycling and high operating temperatures in service. An implementation of fatigue and creep damage models into a finite element code is presented. The implementation was designed to be practical and streamlined, as the damage models used require a minimum of materials testing; and by integrating all the code into an existing finite element package, there is no need to search through or transfer large amounts of output data in order to assess results.     

大面积硅锂漂移探测器制备及其性能

制备了大面积硅锂漂移探测器,其性能为:探测器的灵敏面积123.6 cm~2;灵敏层深度2 mm;在室温和300 V反向偏压的工作条件下漏电流小于20 μA;对~(241)Am 5.486 MeV α粒子的能量分辨(FWHM)为77.67 keV。     

An experimental study on air window collector having a vertical blind for active solar heating

In this study, an air window collector having vertical black blinds was investigated experimentally under actual outdoor conditions. The vertical blind was installed between two 120 × 80 cm glass panes. It can rotate about the vertical axis. The fully open position makes a 90° angle with the vertical plane. A commercially available blind made of cloth and coated with black paint was tested. The air circulation in the system is provided by a fan parallel to blinds. Various parameters were measured and recorded using a data acquisition system. The effect of these parameters on the thermal performance of the system were determined experimentally.     

Structural and gas-sensing properties of nanometre tin oxide prepared by PECVD

A low-temperature plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) technique has been employed to produce ultrafine tin oxide powders. The structural features and phase transition of this material have been characterized using differential thermal analysis (DTA), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy (IR) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The oxygen absorption behaviour and gassensing properties have been investigated by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and electrical measurements. Thick film gas sensors made from such ultrafine SnO₂ powders yield better sensitivities than those of normal undoped SnO₂ gas sensors. A gas-sensing reaction mechanism is also proposed.