Thesis (Professional Degree)--University of Missouri, School of Mines and Metallurgy, 1939. / The entire thesis text is included in file. Typescript. Title from title screen of thesis/dissertation PDF file (viewed April 22, 2010)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Missouri University of Science and Technology, 2008. / Vita. The entire thesis text is included in file. Title from title screen of thesis/dissertation PDF file (viewed June 1, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 229-234).

Modern coal preparation facilities incorporate a wide array of solid-solid and solid-liquid separation processes for rejecting mineral matter to meet market specifications. The coarse mineral matter is typically placed into engineered refuse piles whereas the fine refuse is either stored in impoundments or co-disposed with the coarse refuse. The discharge water from the refuse material represents an environmental concern due to the potential release of trace elements, and the subsequent elevation of total dissolved solids and conductivity. The research findings reported in this dissertation addresses sustainable coal processing waste disposal through using strategies aimed at minimizing the environmental impacts. To provide an accurate and inexpensive method to assess the potential environmental effects of a given waste material, a conductivity screening-level test was modified to incorporate the impact of particle surface area. The test was used on various waste streams as well as the particle size and density fractions of each waste stream to identify environmentally sensitive components that can be separated from the bulk and isolated to prevent negative environmental impacts. The results were subsequently evaluated for long term mobility of trace elements under different disposal scenarios: (i) static leaching tests designed to simulate the quiescent conditions in a stable impoundment, and (ii) a dynamic test to simulate waste materials exposed to the atmosphere in variable wet/dry storage conditions. The results indicated that liberating, separating and isolating the highest density fractions (>2.68 SG) which represents less than 5% of the coal refuse materials results in significant abatement of total dissolved solids and conductivity. Required modifications of the coal processing plants were suggested to segregate and subsequently isolate the environmentally sensitive fractions from the remaining refuse material.

No description available.

Neural networks have been used extensively in material science with varying success. It has been demonstrated that they can be very effective at predicting mechanical properties such as yield strength and ultimate tensile strength. These networks require large amounts of input data in order to learn the correct data trends. A neural network modelling process has been developed which includes data collection methodology and subsequent filtering techniques in conjunction with training of a neural network model. It has been shown that by using certain techniques to ‘improve’ the input data a network will not only fit seen and unseen Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS) and Yield Strength (YS) data but correctly predict trends consistent with metallurgical understanding. Using the methods developed with the UTS and YS models, a Low Cycle Fatigue (LCF) life model has been developed with promising initial results. Crack initiation at high temperatures has been studied in CMSX4 in both air and vacuum environments, to elucidate the effect of oxidation on the notch fatigue initiation process. In air, crack initiation occurred at sub-surface interdendritic pores in all cases. The sub-surface crack grows initially under vacuum conditions, before breaking out to the top surface. Lifetime is then dependent on initiating pore size and distance from the notch root surface. In vacuum conditions, crack initiation has been observed more consistently from surface or close-to-surface pores - indicating that surface oxidation is in-filling/”healing” surface pores or providing significant local stress transfer to shift initiation to sub-surface pores. Complementary work has been carried out using PWA 1484 and Rene N5. Extensive data has been collected on initiating pores for all 3 alloys. A model has been developed to predict fatigue life based upon geometrical information from the initiating pores. A Paris law approach is used in conjunction with long crack propagation data. The model shows a good fit with experimental data and further improvements have been recommended in order to increase the capability of the model.

Looking at iron slags from Eastern England, this thesis was designed to assess the possibility of inferring the ore type in use by the chemical composition of the slag. A number of case studies are examined. The first is a group of material from the Foulness Valley, East Yorkshire, which is known to be produced from high phosphorus bog ore. This allows direct comparison between this and other assemblages, based on phosphorus content, to infer if bog or bedded ore was in use. Assemblages from Iron Age East Yorkshire, Roman Caistor St Edmund and the Saxon sites of Quarrington and Flixboroughwere examined to infer on ore exploitation and possible metal production. The background examination provides a definition of phosphoric iron based upon its material properties and the parameters which govern the creation of the alloy. Further discussion of ore exploitation and the reasoning behind why smelting sites are more difficult to locate are covered, while the current direction of research is examined. The body of experimental work is discussed with notable case studies drawn upon to demonstrate where the literature concentrates its focus. This allows for the suggestion of future possibilities based upon the impacts of these works. An experimental smelt was carried out in order to inform on the processes and record observations which helped to dictate the choices made on raw material selection. The experimental material was analysed alongside archaeological slags produced from the same ore, and treated in the same way as the material used in the archaeological case studies. The selection criteria applied to the archaeological assemblages, based on morphology and perceived mass are outlined. A description of the preparation methods for sample examination follows. The physics of electron microscopy are then discussed covering the various effects which govern the generation of the characteristic x-rays which are responsible for the chemical composition data. Each of the case study assemblages are dealt with individually presenting photographs of the pieces before sampling and backscattered electron images of the material. As this is the first scientific analysis conducted upon the Saxon assemblages from Quarrington and Flixborough, the data generated provides critical, new insight into Early Medieval iron production. The data using phase composition and phosphorus content are presented on a site by site basis before being assembled into an overall synthesis which further clarifies the inferences of different ore exploitation. Further comparisons of phosphorus and sulphur content are used to demonstrate the use of the bog ore and Frodingham Ironstone available at Flixborough. The interpretation of the data is then drawn upon for final conclusions and inferences of ore exploitation and the identification of ironstone use at Flixborough which further supports the archaeological and historical evidence for this practice from the 7th century A.D.

O controle gerencial de custos é uma ferramenta que quando direcionada pode gerar grandes impactos na economia do processo. O monitoramento e a constante observação dos custos associados às principais operações em grandes mineradoras é uma ferramenta de importante aplicação na elaboração das estimativas e no planejamento do orçamento da mina. Dentre as principais operações do ciclo produtivo, a perfuração & desmonte é a atividade responsável pela fragmentação do minério e a adequação granulométrica para os processos seguintes. Essa operação é de grande impacto no orçamento da mina, podendo ser analisada diretamente ou ter seu custo estimado com aplicação de algoritmos. Por ser a responsável direta da qualidade da fragmentação da rocha, ela influencia em toda a cadeia produtiva e na produtividade do processo de lavra em si. O seu planejamento envolve decisões tomadas com base no conhecimento da geologia estrutural e nas características do maciço rochoso que compõe o depósito mineral, bem como no projeto e adequação dos parâmetros que compõem os planos de fogo. A seleção dos objetivos a serem atingidos nesta etapa é o início de uma série de escolhas que devem ser feitas com o intuito de atingir os objetivos iniciais com o menor custo possível. O presente trabalho apresenta os principais aspectos a serem considerados numa análise de custos na operação de perfuração e desmonte, analisando e discutindo as principais variáveis que compõe este custo, elaborando um algoritmo capaz de vincular os principais parâmetros vistos para obtenção do resultado final. Para aplicação da metodologia desenvolvida é apresentando um estudo de caso de uma mina de ferro, onde se buscou determinar o custo por volume de rocha fragmentada associada à atividade, correlacionando os principais parâmetros que envolvem o processo de seleção do plano de fogo, bem como realizando uma análise de sensibilidade em função das principais variáveis de custo. O algoritmo para estimativa de custos de perfuração e desmonte, desenvolvido para plataforma Excel, tornou evidente a importância e a influência da taxa de perfuração no custo final de produção do minério fragmentado, onde se concluiu que quanto maior a taxa de perfuração, menor é o custo associado à mesma, bem como evidenciou que as seleções referentes ao plano de fogo causam impactos significativos na economia do processo, principalmente no que concerne a escolha do diâmetro dos furos e o tipo de explosivo aplicado. / Cost management control is a tool which can produce a big impact in the economy of the process. The monitoring and constant observation of the costs linked to major operations in large mining is an important tool to estimate and plan the mine budget. Among the main operations of the production cycle, drilling & blasting activity is responsible for the ore fragmentation and suitability of the particle size in the downstream processes. This operation has large impact in mine budget; it can be analyzed directly or can be estimated applying cost algorithm. For being directly responsible for the fragmented rock quality, it influences the entire production chain and the mining productivity itself. The drilling and blasting planning involves decisions based on knowledge of the structural geology and characteristics of the rock mass that compose the mineral deposit, as well as in design and adjustment of the parameters that comprise the blasting round. The selection of the objectives to be achieved in this stage is the beginning of a series of choices that should be made in order to seek the initial objectives at the lowest cost possible. This work presents the main features to be considered in a cost analysis of drilling and blasting operation, analyzing and discussing the main variables that compose this cost and developing an algorithm able to link the principal parameters studied to obtain the final result. In order to apply the developed methodology and aiming to determine the cost per volume of fragmented rock associated to the drilling and blasting activity, a case study is illustrate in an iron mine, correlating the main features involved in the blasting design process, as well as performing an sensitivity analysis as a function of the principal cost parameters. The drilling and blasting cost algorithm developed for Excel platform made evident the importance and the influence of the drilling rate in the final cost of fragmented ore, which permit to concluded that the larger the drilling rate is, the lower the cost associated with it, as well as showed that the selections made in the blasting round cause significant impacts on the process economy, especially regarding the hole diameter and the type of explosive selection.

O controle gerencial de custos é uma ferramenta que quando direcionada pode gerar grandes impactos na economia do processo. O monitoramento e a constante observação dos custos associados às principais operações em grandes mineradoras é uma ferramenta de importante aplicação na elaboração das estimativas e no planejamento do orçamento da mina. Dentre as principais operações do ciclo produtivo, a perfuração & desmonte é a atividade responsável pela fragmentação do minério e a adequação granulométrica para os processos seguintes. Essa operação é de grande impacto no orçamento da mina, podendo ser analisada diretamente ou ter seu custo estimado com aplicação de algoritmos. Por ser a responsável direta da qualidade da fragmentação da rocha, ela influencia em toda a cadeia produtiva e na produtividade do processo de lavra em si. O seu planejamento envolve decisões tomadas com base no conhecimento da geologia estrutural e nas características do maciço rochoso que compõe o depósito mineral, bem como no projeto e adequação dos parâmetros que compõem os planos de fogo. A seleção dos objetivos a serem atingidos nesta etapa é o início de uma série de escolhas que devem ser feitas com o intuito de atingir os objetivos iniciais com o menor custo possível. O presente trabalho apresenta os principais aspectos a serem considerados numa análise de custos na operação de perfuração e desmonte, analisando e discutindo as principais variáveis que compõe este custo, elaborando um algoritmo capaz de vincular os principais parâmetros vistos para obtenção do resultado final. Para aplicação da metodologia desenvolvida é apresentando um estudo de caso de uma mina de ferro, onde se buscou determinar o custo por volume de rocha fragmentada associada à atividade, correlacionando os principais parâmetros que envolvem o processo de seleção do plano de fogo, bem como realizando uma análise de sensibilidade em função das principais variáveis de custo. O algoritmo para estimativa de custos de perfuração e desmonte, desenvolvido para plataforma Excel, tornou evidente a importância e a influência da taxa de perfuração no custo final de produção do minério fragmentado, onde se concluiu que quanto maior a taxa de perfuração, menor é o custo associado à mesma, bem como evidenciou que as seleções referentes ao plano de fogo causam impactos significativos na economia do processo, principalmente no que concerne a escolha do diâmetro dos furos e o tipo de explosivo aplicado. / Cost management control is a tool which can produce a big impact in the economy of the process. The monitoring and constant observation of the costs linked to major operations in large mining is an important tool to estimate and plan the mine budget. Among the main operations of the production cycle, drilling & blasting activity is responsible for the ore fragmentation and suitability of the particle size in the downstream processes. This operation has large impact in mine budget; it can be analyzed directly or can be estimated applying cost algorithm. For being directly responsible for the fragmented rock quality, it influences the entire production chain and the mining productivity itself. The drilling and blasting planning involves decisions based on knowledge of the structural geology and characteristics of the rock mass that compose the mineral deposit, as well as in design and adjustment of the parameters that comprise the blasting round. The selection of the objectives to be achieved in this stage is the beginning of a series of choices that should be made in order to seek the initial objectives at the lowest cost possible. This work presents the main features to be considered in a cost analysis of drilling and blasting operation, analyzing and discussing the main variables that compose this cost and developing an algorithm able to link the principal parameters studied to obtain the final result. In order to apply the developed methodology and aiming to determine the cost per volume of fragmented rock associated to the drilling and blasting activity, a case study is illustrate in an iron mine, correlating the main features involved in the blasting design process, as well as performing an sensitivity analysis as a function of the principal cost parameters. The drilling and blasting cost algorithm developed for Excel platform made evident the importance and the influence of the drilling rate in the final cost of fragmented ore, which permit to concluded that the larger the drilling rate is, the lower the cost associated with it, as well as showed that the selections made in the blasting round cause significant impacts on the process economy, especially regarding the hole diameter and the type of explosive selection.

O controle gerencial de custos é uma ferramenta que quando direcionada pode gerar grandes impactos na economia do processo. O monitoramento e a constante observação dos custos associados às principais operações em grandes mineradoras é uma ferramenta de importante aplicação na elaboração das estimativas e no planejamento do orçamento da mina. Dentre as principais operações do ciclo produtivo, a perfuração & desmonte é a atividade responsável pela fragmentação do minério e a adequação granulométrica para os processos seguintes. Essa operação é de grande impacto no orçamento da mina, podendo ser analisada diretamente ou ter seu custo estimado com aplicação de algoritmos. Por ser a responsável direta da qualidade da fragmentação da rocha, ela influencia em toda a cadeia produtiva e na produtividade do processo de lavra em si. O seu planejamento envolve decisões tomadas com base no conhecimento da geologia estrutural e nas características do maciço rochoso que compõe o depósito mineral, bem como no projeto e adequação dos parâmetros que compõem os planos de fogo. A seleção dos objetivos a serem atingidos nesta etapa é o início de uma série de escolhas que devem ser feitas com o intuito de atingir os objetivos iniciais com o menor custo possível. O presente trabalho apresenta os principais aspectos a serem considerados numa análise de custos na operação de perfuração e desmonte, analisando e discutindo as principais variáveis que compõe este custo, elaborando um algoritmo capaz de vincular os principais parâmetros vistos para obtenção do resultado final. Para aplicação da metodologia desenvolvida é apresentando um estudo de caso de uma mina de ferro, onde se buscou determinar o custo por volume de rocha fragmentada associada à atividade, correlacionando os principais parâmetros que envolvem o processo de seleção do plano de fogo, bem como realizando uma análise de sensibilidade em função das principais variáveis de custo. O algoritmo para estimativa de custos de perfuração e desmonte, desenvolvido para plataforma Excel, tornou evidente a importância e a influência da taxa de perfuração no custo final de produção do minério fragmentado, onde se concluiu que quanto maior a taxa de perfuração, menor é o custo associado à mesma, bem como evidenciou que as seleções referentes ao plano de fogo causam impactos significativos na economia do processo, principalmente no que concerne a escolha do diâmetro dos furos e o tipo de explosivo aplicado. / Cost management control is a tool which can produce a big impact in the economy of the process. The monitoring and constant observation of the costs linked to major operations in large mining is an important tool to estimate and plan the mine budget. Among the main operations of the production cycle, drilling & blasting activity is responsible for the ore fragmentation and suitability of the particle size in the downstream processes. This operation has large impact in mine budget; it can be analyzed directly or can be estimated applying cost algorithm. For being directly responsible for the fragmented rock quality, it influences the entire production chain and the mining productivity itself. The drilling and blasting planning involves decisions based on knowledge of the structural geology and characteristics of the rock mass that compose the mineral deposit, as well as in design and adjustment of the parameters that comprise the blasting round. The selection of the objectives to be achieved in this stage is the beginning of a series of choices that should be made in order to seek the initial objectives at the lowest cost possible. This work presents the main features to be considered in a cost analysis of drilling and blasting operation, analyzing and discussing the main variables that compose this cost and developing an algorithm able to link the principal parameters studied to obtain the final result. In order to apply the developed methodology and aiming to determine the cost per volume of fragmented rock associated to the drilling and blasting activity, a case study is illustrate in an iron mine, correlating the main features involved in the blasting design process, as well as performing an sensitivity analysis as a function of the principal cost parameters. The drilling and blasting cost algorithm developed for Excel platform made evident the importance and the influence of the drilling rate in the final cost of fragmented ore, which permit to concluded that the larger the drilling rate is, the lower the cost associated with it, as well as showed that the selections made in the blasting round cause significant impacts on the process economy, especially regarding the hole diameter and the type of explosive selection.

The Surface Deformation Prediction System (SDPS) program has been developed as an engineering tool for the prediction of subsidence deformation indices through the implementation of an influence function. SDPS provides reliable predictions of mining induced surface displacements, strains, and tilt for varying surface topography. One of the key aspects in obtaining reliable ground deformation prediction is the determination of the edge effect offset. The value assigned to the edge effect corresponds to a virtual offsetting of boundary lines delineating the extracted panel to allow for roof cantilevering over the mined out area. The objective of this thesis is to describe the methods implemented in updating the edge effect offset algorithm within SDPS. Using known geometric equations, the newly developed algorithm provides a more robust calculation of the offset boundary line of the extracted panel for simplistic and complex mining geometries. Assuming that an extracted panel is represented by a closed polyline, the new edge offset algorithm calculates a polyline offset into the extracted panel by the user defined edge effect offset distance. Surface deformations are then calculated using this adjusted panel geometry. The MATLAB® program was utilized for development and testing of the new edge effect offset feature.