Pipeline wear in minefill distribution systems

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The Canadian mining industry is faced with international competition and diminishing mineral reserves. To remain competitive, the industry must reduce the cost of mining and increase productivity while maintaining a high standard of safety. Sustainability must be an integral part of the mining project, from the exploration, mine opening, operation, and closure. Development of cost-effective environmental mine waste management, including mine backfilling, is a priority for today's mining industry. Over the last three decades, mine backfilling has progressively integrated into underground mining operations. The high stresses associated with mining at depth in the Canadian Shield, also requires innovative approaches to mine backfilling to withstand the loading both during and after mining operations. Not only new or modified minefill systems are required, but also new techniques are needed to increase the speed of the mining cycle for optimizing the mining operation. The safe transportation and optimization of such slurry mix is of great importance to the mine operator. This proposal is part of an ongoing interdisciplinary research program comprising physical and mechanical properties mine fill together with economic, environmental and safety issues. This specific project deals with the pipe wear due to the transportation of mine fill (with its variations). It will focus on fundamental as well as applied aspects in understanding and optimization of the pipe wear due to various factors governing mine fill system from backfill properties to slurry pipe distribution design and the pipe material point of view including its economic. This research (referred to in this proposal as the Wear Study) focuses on the causes of wear in underground mine fill distribution systems and how this wear affects the transport of minefill to underground mines. Wear in the pipeline is caused by the properties of both the fill itself and of its flow through the distribution system.