Collecting hyperspectral data of tailings through a sapphire window to assess the feasibility of instrument development

ConeTec是一家国际性的现场勘察公司，专门从事现场土壤测试设备的设计和使用，包括各种锥贯测试（CPT）探头和取样系统。ConeTec目前是阿尔伯塔油砂运营商的服务供应商之一。油砂运营商需要CPT对尾矿进行岩土工程表征。在尾矿的岩土工程特性方面，估算粘土的膨胀潜力对于尾矿的管理非常重要。粘土的活性显著影响尾矿的沉降和固结以及用于复垦目的的最终尾矿存款的岩土稳定性。油砂尾矿固体的活性通常使用亚甲基蓝指数（MBI）来确定，这是一种量化样品离子吸收能力的分析技术。目前，ConeTec需要从尾矿池的不同深度收集样本，然后将其发送到商业实验室，以估计尾矿MBI。这个过程是昂贵和耗时的。里瓦德博士在阿尔伯塔大学的研究小组已经研究了光谱传感器在尾矿表征中的应用。该研究为建立一种快速可靠的基于高光谱观测的尾矿MBI原位测定方法奠定了基础。因此，ConeTec有兴趣在其CPT探头中集成高光谱传感器，用于井下MBI估计。在这种情况下，光谱测量将通过嵌入CPT探头中的蓝宝石窗口收集。因此，拟议的工作是一项可行性研究，以解决通过蓝宝石窗口收集尾矿光谱测量的挑战，并评估这些数据的质量，以进行MBI估计。

ConeTec is an international site investigation company with specialization in the design and use of in-situ soiltesting equipment including a wide range of cone penetration testing (CPT) probes and sampling systems.ConeTec is currently one of the service providers for the oil sands operators in Alberta. The oil sands operatorsneed CPT for geotechnical characterization of tailings. In regards to geotechnical characterization of tailings,estimation of the swelling potential of clays is of great importance for the management of tailings. The activityof clays significantly affects the settling and consolidation of tailings and the geotechnical stability of a finaltailings deposit for reclamation purposes. The activity of oil sands tailings solids is typically determined usingthe methylene blue index (MBI), an analytical technique that quantifies the ionic absorption capacity of asample. Currently, ConeTec needs to collect samples from different depths of the tailings ponds that are thensent to commercial laboratories for the estimation of the tailings MBI. This procedure is costly and timeconsuming. Dr. Rivard's research group at the University of Alberta (UofA) has investigated the use of spectralsensors for tailings characterization. This research has laid the foundation to establish a quick and reliablein-situ method for determining the MBI of tailings based on hyperspectral observations. Consequently ConeTecis interested in integrating a hyperspectral sensor in their CPT probes for the downhole estimation of MBI. Insuch case, the spectral measurements would be collected through a sapphire window embedded in the CPTprobe. The proposed work is therefore a feasibility study to address the challenge of collecting spectralmeasurements of tailings through a sapphire window and assess the quality of such data for the purpose of MBIestimation.