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By M I. Pownceby, M A. Rhamdhani, W J. Rankin, G Brooks, I R. Ignacio

Steelmaking has a significant contribution in producing greenhouse gases and there is a worldwide push towards decarbonising the process. One of the approaches to reduce CO2 emissions is to use hydrogen in the blast furnace (BF) as the reductant gas. However, hydrogen reduction is an endothermic reaction, bringing changes to the temperature distribution in the BF. Understanding iron ore sinter mineralogy and reducibility under a hydrogen atmosphere is essential to optimise the process. In this study, sinter analogues in the Fe3O4-CaO-SiO2 (FCS) ternary system together with industrial sinters were reduced in H2-rich and CO atmospheres and the resulting reducibility and associated mineralogical changes were observed. Results show that magnetite-lime-silica (MLS) sinter analogues had similar reduction rates under H2 and CO, and also higher reducibility than most of the industrial sinters, suggesting that magnetite sinters could be used efficiently in a conventional or hydrogen blast furnace.

Sep 18, 2023

By Bahadir Ergener, Angel Maria Tobar Escudero, Sandra Nowosad

Modern mining companies are increasingly turning to integrate digital technologies and circular economy (CE) principles to increase the sustainability of their operations. The so-called “mine of the future” is envisioned as a smart, integrated system where technologies such as automation, artificial intelligence, digital twins, and real-time data analytics work in harmony with human decision-making and environmental responsibility. Already in 2018, McKinsey and Co. identified that the three drivers that would define a technology-enabled change in mining would be technology, including digital, analytics and automation, management systems able to identify the potential and value of the new technologies, and the culture and capabilities of the organisation, leaning to more agile and responsive organisations. From the three drivers, in the last five years most developments have been centred in the first one. Yet despite rapid advances, the adoption of new technologies across the industry today remains uneven and often slower than expected. Furthermore, it has been identified that the problem on the technology uptake often relay on the lack of operational readiness, process incompatibility or misalignment, and resistance to change within the mining operation. At the same time, leading companies like Rio Tinto, BHP, and Anglo American have each launched major digital transformation programs. Rio Tinto, for instance, operates one of the world’s largest autonomous mining fleets and has integrated digital technologies across nearly all its operations (Rio Tinto, 2025). BHP is actively investing in information and communication technology (ICT) development as artificial intelligence, big data analytics and robotics, and has partnered with battery companies to pursue circular economy initiatives. Only in 2024, their ICT spending reached US$ 438.3 million (Global Data, 2024). Anglo American has rolled out its FutureSmart Mining™ framework, explicitly aligning innovation with circularity and sustainability goals (Anglo American, 2025). The accelerating pace of change across leading mining companies along with the uneven adoption in the technology uptake clearly state how digital transformation is no longer just about implementing new tools, instead it requires a fundamental shift in how people, processes, and culture are aligned. Addressing only the technical layer, while neglecting the human and organizational dimensions, leaves transformation efforts fragile and unsustainable. As the industry must act decisively to close this gap, the true test of transformation is today centred in changing behaviours, mindsets, and systems. Even at the listed leading companies, initiatives have encountered cultural and structural resistance that are relatable to the industry in large: siloed departments fail to collaborate, procurement teams focus on upfront costs rather than lifecycle value, and operators are often excluded from early-stage planning, reducing buy-in. In many cases, a lack of communication or failure to link technology to real operational bottlenecks leads to disengagement at the ground level. This friction reveals a broader issue: mining organizations have historically treated technology and culture as separate domains, when in fact they are deeply interdependent. To address this, the authors propose a systems engineering approach focusing on the mining operations as a complex socio-technical system composed of people, processes, and technologies. Systems engineering offers tools and frameworks for mapping interactions, aligning incentives, designing for feedback and adaptation, and integrating change across organizational boundaries. Specifically, besides technical requirements, it demands treating culture not as an afterthought or side-effect, but as a design variable that must be intentionally shaped alongside infrastructure and workflows. This paper explores how this approach can be applied in practice, by analysing a real-world case scenario where resistance to innovation was overcome not by technical capabilities alone, but through alignment of stakeholder incentives, thoughtful communication, and cultural integration. A particular focus is set on the adoption journey of the Powerbit X, a drill bit technology with significant potential for operational and environmental gains.

Feb 22, 2026

By J. Abrahams, A. Nesbitt

Over the past half-century, researchers have commented on the complexities of ion-exchange processes, but have been forced to use gross assumptions to simplify the associated mathematics sufficiently for mathematical models to be of practical use, given the available computational power. This paper reviews the development of increasingly complex models as computational power has increased over the past half-century, from the direct application of Fick's Law in 1947, through to today's models requiring finiteelement methods. The assumptions required for and the associated limitations of the various models are presented and the associated computational complexities are discussed. A case study is presented in which a continuous loss of capacity in an acid resin was observed over about sixty cycles of loading and elution. Resin poisoning does not explain this observation. This paper presents the capacity loss data, speculates on possible causes of the phenomenon, discusses why conventional kinetic and equilibrium mechanisms cannot explain it and concludes that the need to develop a more rigorous model is apparent. The significance of this observation is that standard tests done for a new resin application could significantly overestimate the commercial performance of the resin concerned, highlighting the importance of computer simulation in this field of process engineering.

Jan 1, 2005

By T. E. Wakefield

Over several decades in Southern Africa the advance rates when sinking vertical shafts have declined significantly. The upside has been a substantial improvement in shaft bottom conditions and a commensurately improved safety performance, with an increasing number of shafts being sunk without fatalities and disabling injuries. This paper briefly reviews historical sinking rates and matches changed sinking productivity to the introduction of new sinking methods that have been adopted to eliminate/mitigate safety risks. Meeting the challenge of returning to historical advance rates whilst progressing in the quest for zero harm by utilizing three dimensional animated computer modelling is described. Making use of commercial modelling software makes it easier to evaluate different methods, sequencing, in shaft barrel ergonomics, and stage and shaft bottom layouts before procuring project plant and equipment. Benefits accrue not only in better communicating methods and configurations for detailed planning and design, but also during crew training. The traditional engineering ?as-built? drawing practice has been extended to the concept of an ?as executed? sinking model which seeks to capture operational experience and learning for future best practice. The paper concludes with some of the organizational culture challenges being overcome as this non traditional approach to shaft sinking optimization is being introduced.

Jan 1, 2009

The effect of rare earth element Y (0-2.0at.%) on the microstructure of TiAl alloys at the as cast and rapidly solidified conditions has been investigated. The results show that the addition of Y greatly refined the microstructure of TiAl alloys at both conditions. The refinement is more significantly with higher Y content. The refinement of Y in the cast alloys is attributed to that the strip-shaped Y-rich phase locating on the grain boundaries impedes the grain growth during solidification. In the rapidly solidified alloys, Y-rich phase dispersing uniformly as spherical particles in the matrix acts as heterogeneous nucleation sites which increases the nucleation rate of ??phase during the ????phase transformation, and produces a refined initial microstructure during solidification. Higher cooling rate restricts the grain growth during subsequent cooling.

Jan 1, 2010

By David W. Brunton

FROM the old-fashioned " grab-sample " to the modern timing- . device, which takes a machine-sample with mathematical precision, there is a wide gap which was only crossed' by many years of toil and unremitting endeavor. Even to-day, notwithstanding the advancement in the art, "grab-sampling" is still practiced-sometimes to afford the unscrupulous mine-promoter a basis for fairy-tales with which to entrap the too-gullible investor, and often by milling and smelting companies to determine the amount of moisture in custom-ores. The latter practice is almost as reprehensible as the former, and it causes more trouble and ill-feeling between seller and buyer than all other factors put together. No reputable concern to-day would think of attempting to determine by grab-sampling the amount of gold, silver, lead, or copper contained in an ore, and yet many buyers expect the miner to accept the results of grab-sampling in the determination of the amount of water contained in the ore, forgetting that accurate results are just as necessary here as in the determination of the metals, because the result determines the percentage of weight of the ore which shall be excluded and considered to have no value whatever. Samples for the determination of moisture should be taken with as great care as samples for the determination of. metallic content, and in order to avoid the extra expense of a separate operation moisture-samples should be taken from the sample-safe. As the sample reaches the sample-bin in a smaller stream and by a more circuitous route than the "reject" travels in its path to the outgoing car, it loses more moisture en route, and a constant should be added to compensate for this difference. Carefully-conducted experiments have shown that the difference in loss of moisture between the two routes does not exceed 10 per cent. in summer and 7 per cent.. in winter. For instance,

Aug 1, 1909

By John Wilson

"The unconformity beneath 75 per cent or over 6000 km2 of the Athabasca Basin in Alberta lies within economically exploitable depths. The basement beneath this unconformity consists of an extension of the Wylie Lake Pluton, locally faulted and containing areas of mylonitic rocks. While the rocks of the Wylie Lake Pluton are not promising host rocks for uranium ore deposits, the areas of mylonites, graphitic rocks and possible remnants of granitegneiss would bear closer examination. One area of maficmylonites shows a weathering zone enriched in Si, Ca, Na, Pb, Ni, Ba, Co, Sr, Zn and U in addition to reported values of 0.08 oz/ton gold. This zone occurs beneath 800 m to 900 m of Athabasca Group sediments, but similar rock types are present beneath much thinner cover elsewhere. Detailed geophysical exploration is required over the area of thinner Athabasca Group rocks to define more precisely the areas of promising basement rock type.IntroductionThe Athabasca Basin in Alberta has considerable economic potential which has not yet been realized. The geological setting is closely analogous to parts of the basin in Saskatchewan which host major uranium deposits. Recent advances in geophysical techniques have led to deposits being located in Saskatchewan below 600 m of cover. This means that the unconformity between the Athabasca Group and the basement lies at exploitable depths over 6000 km2 or 75 per cent of the Alberta portion of the basin. Much of this area was only cursorily examined almost a decade ago. In addition, Alberta's new Metallic Mineral Regulations have clarified the regulatory situation in the area, and opened up much land for exploration. This article is based on Wilson's (1985a) study of the Athabasca Group and Wilson's (1986) work on the basement and alteration beneath the Athabasca Group in Alberta."

Jan 1, 1987

By Bill Linville

Producing oil, gas, and coal in sufficient amounts to satisfy U.S. demands for fuels, electrical power, and chemicals promises to be one of the country's major challenges during the 1970's. Adding significantly to this challenge is the urgent task of satisfying soaring fuel and power demands without destroying the natural environment or jeopardizing long-range requirements for resources. The Bureau of Mines, U.S. Department of the Interior, is engaged in a comprehensive program of research to help industry meet this challenge. This report reviews the aims of the research program and accomplishments in 1970; the first 11 sections cover coal programs, nine sect ions are then devoted to petroleum, and the concluding five sections deal with oil shale research. Figure 1 shows the nationwide distribution of Bureau of Mines energy research installations; Full addresses are given in appendix A. Many of the publications resulting from the Bureau?s energy research efforts are discussed throughout the report; others are listed in appendix B.

Jan 1, 1971

By Caroline B. Chapleau, Mélanie Proulx, Claude Bazin, Gaétan Lavoie

"Quebec Cartier Mining operates a pelletizing plant in Port-Cartier, QC. Grinding, agglomeration and pellets induration are the three main steps in the preparation of iron oxide pellets. In 1998, following different recommendations, the company increased the speed of one of its ball mill in order to increase the grinding efficiency of the machine. As expected, the increased speed lead to an increase of the power draught, which did not produce the expected increase of fineness of grind, neither its allows to increase the mill throughput. The change of behaviour of the mill could hardly be understood by comparison of discharge size distribution at initial and modified mill rotation speed. On the other hand, the use of the selection function from a population balance model provides an insight of the changes that occurred in the mill. This paper reviews the various steps required for the estimation of a grinding mill selection function. Results of the calibration to Quebec Cartier grinding mills show that the increase in the mill speed leads to higher rate of breakage of coarse particles, at the expenses of less efficient breakage of medium and fine size particles. In the case of the studied mill, breakage of coarse particles was probably not the critical step of the mill operation. INTRODUCTIONOre size reduction is the major energy consumption step in any mineral processing operations (Austin et al., 1984). Size reduction is required to either liberate valuable minerals from the gangue minerals in which they are imbedded, or to increase the specific surface of the ground material. Plant engineers continuously face the challenge to find grinding machines, operating conditions or grinding circuit flowsheet configurations that could improve the size reduction process at lower energy or m6dia consumption."

Jan 1, 2000

By D. Harrington

A uniform hoisting-signal code for mines hoisting from more than one level, if adopted by all mining States, would be beneficial to employees and owners alike and should largely reduce the number of hoisting accidents. Misunderstood hoisting signals cause many shaft accidents involving injuries to men, damage to equipment, and loss of production from the resultant delay. Many of the metal-mining States have adopted codes for hoisting that are effective within the borders of that State but usually entirely different from the signal code, if any, in use in an adjoining State. For many years safety engineers have recognized this lack of uniformity as a distinct hazard, but a uniform code has never been adopted by the States or by the mining industry in those States that have not incorporated signal codes in their mining laws or mining regulations.

Jan 1, 1944

To predict the spontaneous combustion potential of bituminous coals using a simple expression based on an easily acquired coal property. Background Approximately 20% of underground coal mine fires in the United States since 1978 have been attributed to spontaneous combustion. Spontaneous combustion fires in underground mines are most likely to occur in gob area; and are difficult to detect and to extinguish by direct fire fighting methods. Often, sections of the mine or the entire mine must be sealed for long periods, at a great economic loss to the mine operator, mine employees, and the surrounding community. It is conservatively estimated that the cost of scaling a large mine is about $50 million.

Jan 1, 1989

By Kevin M. Ansdell, Irvine R. Annesley, Christine L. Mckechnie

The U-Th-REE mineralization at Fraser Lakes Zone B is hosted by granitic pegmatites and leucogranites, which lie along the deformed contact between Paleoproterozoic metasedimentary gneiss of the Wollaston Group and Archean orthogneiss, approximately 25 km from the southeastern edge of the Athabasca Basin. The pegmatites/leucogranites are subcordant to concordant with the regional foliation and are concentrated within a northeast-plunging antiformal fold nose, the study area, which lies west of Fraser Lakes. The mineralized pegmatites/leucogranites in the western part of the study area (Group A) are typically enriched in U (± Th) with Th/U ~1, and contain uraninite, thorite, zircon, and allanite. Those intruding the central part of the study area (Group B) are generally enriched in Th and LREE, with Th/U >2, and contain monazite, thorite (commonly U-enriched), and zircon. The pegmatites and leucogranites in Group A tend to be slightly enriched in SiO2 and depleted in TiO2 relative to those in Group B and are interpreted to represent more evolved crustal melts. Both groups are peraluminous and show varied chemistry. Partial melting (~850ºC and 9 kbar) of a metasedimentary rock-dominated source, entrainment of accessory minerals as xenocrysts, and assimilation-fractional crystallization processes combined to enrich the granitic pegmatites/leucogranites in U, Th, and REE elements. Transfer of melt from the source region to the crystallization sites was assisted by deformation within and along major structural zones, such as the folded Archean-Paleoproterozoic discontinuity. The character of mineralization and structural control in the study area is reminiscent of the alaskite-hosted deposits at Rössing, Namibia.

Jan 1, 2013

By Albert H. Clough

The Coast Range subarea of the Juneau Mining District (JMD) extends from the Canadian border north of the community of Skagway, southerly to Tracy Arm. It is bounded by the international boundary on the north and eastern edges. The Ferebee Glacier and Lynn Canal mark the western boundary, extending south to the Berners Bay region. From Berners Bay south, the western boundary is the eastern boundary of the Juneau Gold Belt (fig. E-l). The city of Skagway (fig. E-2) is the only developed community within the confines of the subarea. Skagway was originally established as a port for the Klondike gold rush of 1898. Recently, Skagway has gained prominence as a port for shipping goods into and mineral products out of Yukon Territory (fig. E-3). Skagway has also developed a thriving tourist industry based on its Alaskan traditions. The community of Skagway maintains a paved airstrip which is suitable for use by small multi-engine aircraft. Several regional air carriers serve Skag-way with frequent scheduled flights, especially during the summer months. Helicopter charter services are available from Skagway during the summer months.

Jan 1, 2012

By R. G. B. Pickering

The purpose of this report is to chronicle the interaction between Anglo Platinum and Sandvik Tamrock during the development and application of Long Hole drilling as a viable, practical method of narrow reef mining. Appendix I identifies the people from Anglo Platinum and Sandvik Tamrock who participated in the project. Experiments in long hole drilling and blasting were conducted in a number of mines during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Some of the advantages envisaged were: ? The face would require no daily examination ? No barring down or immediate face support required ? No sockets to clean ? Only a few well drilled holes rather than large numbers of short blast holes ? Avoidance of poorly-marked holes, inaccurate drilling and improper charging ? Better supervision and better face advance. Holes 50 mm in diameter were drilled parallel to the stope face by pneumatic rock drills from advance strike gullies. Holes were charged with amon gelignite cartridges. All holes were traced with detonating cord to ensure propagation of the explosive along the entire hole length. Rock was blasted onto a rolling scatter pile. A number of reasons have been cited for the failure of this mining method. The two most important were: ? problems in controlling hole deviation which was exacerbated by the fractured ground ? difficulty of charging up holes in fractured ground, due to relative movement of rocks along fracture surfaces over the hole length. The idea of drilling a few long holes parallel to the face rather than a large number of short blast holes perpendicular to the face was an attractive option to mechanize narrow reef mining. This particular project started in 1998. Initial trial The Union Section of Anglo Platinum purchased a Solo H 606 RA long hole drilling rig from Sandvik Tamrock in 1997. In order to evaluate long hole drilling as a basis for face mechanization. The Solo series of drill rig was selected because it combines high drilling performance and good drilling accuracy with high versatility with a compact size. The mining method proposed by a consultant to Anglo Platinum was based on the current trackless mining method practised by Union Section. The trackless mining method is better described as a trackless development and transport method. Reef strike drives were installed approximately 40 metres apart on dip using trackless equipment. Reef was mined using hand-held pneumatic rock drills and scraper winches and the excavation was supported by sticks and crush pillars at the top of the panel. Rock scraped from the panel was loaded by Lad Haul Dumps (LHDs), trammed to an inclined haulage, and loaded into trucks for transport to the surface. It was intended that the Solo would drill from the bottom advance strike drive to the top advance strike drive. Blasted rock would still have to be scraped from the panel. It is also difficult to understand how well the support would have survived. In the initial motivation it was stated that drilling accuracy was of the utmost importance. Previous work by Sandvik Tamrock had shown that, in other parts of the world, 20 metre long holes could be drilled with a deviation not exceeding 100 mm provided that: ? holes were collared with low thrust pressure ? operating percussion pressure was kept low -often not ? exceeding 10 MPa ? drilling was to be with tubes, not rods. In early 1998 initial trials with the Solo H 606 RA were inconclusive; attempts were made to drill 40 metre long holes from one advance strike drive to another. Difficulty was experienced in measuring hole straightness and accuracy, there was no survey of the holes, and no blasting was done to expose hole barrels. A long hole mining system was then defined, with a corresponding face mining system, which led to the design of a test programme for the Solo drilling rig. Earlier experience at Telfer The proposed face mining system was based on a mining method that is practised at Telfer Gold Mine in Western Australia. Telfer has a series of domed reefs that dip at angles of less than 20° to more than 40°. The ore bodies are all thin, with widths from 0.6 metres to 0.8 metres. Figure 1 shows the face layout. Experience at Telfer indicated the following: ? The spacing and size of the dip pillars should be based on the rock mechanics of Union Section ? The length of the face is determined by the ability to correctly position the blast holes. Positioning of blast holes is a function of hole straightness and hole direction. Blast holes in Telfer were drilled 64 mm diameter with retrac bits from Sandvik. Extension steel was T38 by 1.8 metre lengths. A guide rod was fitted immediately behind the bit. To achieve greater accuracy' operators drill at relatively low percussion and thrust pressures. Results show that very good accuracy is achieved in 20 metre stopes and only fair accuracy in longer stopes. In 34 metre long stopes 10-15% of the holes are not sufficiently accurately positioned and have to be re-drilled. All blast holes are

Jan 1, 2006

"The mining industry uses many types of mineral and metallurgical plants to produce saleable product from ore mined. Plant design history has left current operations with a mixture of manual operation and various forms of automated process controls. Consequently, we typically see high variability in the continuous operations together with a shortfall in the attainment of full capacity, or higher utilisation of consumables.At a level of best practice, ‘Operational Performance Excellence’ focuses on process control, using automation and control systems to deliver process optimisation. This more sophisticated delivery is a great deal more difficult than the first stage of equipment selection / installation. It includes the appropriate selection of the right instrumentation, control system, key process knowledge, individuals with a solid control engineering background / experience, and the essential backing / support of the operations management team together leading to higher value delivery. Robust solutions can be realised, considerably minimising process variation, thus leading to process optimisation. This approach results in an easier, efficient and safer process while providing considerable returns for the plant owners.How variable are your processes, and do you maintain optimised process performance with dedicated resources, modern instrumentation, ‘best practice’ control systems and performance monitoring tools? In this paper, these questions and their possible answers are discussed."

Jan 1, 2014

About MAC ? The national organization of the Canadian mining industry ? Mining, smelting and refining of base and precious metals ? Mining of iron ore, diamonds, uranium, oil sands, coal and industrial minerals ? Many associate members ? www.mining.ca

Aug 1, 2013

By B. J. Moore

This publication contains analyses and related source data for 352 natural gas samples from wells and pipelines in 18 States and 5 foreign countries. All of the samples were obtained and analyzed during calendar year 1974 as a part of Bureau of Mines investigations of the occurrences of helium in natural gases of countries with free market economics. This survey has been conducted in the United States by the Bureau of Mines since 1917. In late 1965, the survey was expanded to include foreign gasfields. The analyses published herein were made by mass spectrometer and a special helium analysis apparatus, which are described in Bureau of Mines Bulletins 4862 and 576.3 The results of the investigation of the occurrences of helium are published annually to make the information available as soon as possible to the gas industry and the public in general. Sixteen previous publications have presented the results of 10,479 gas analyses prior to 1974. The first three, Bulletins 486,4 576,5 and 617,6 contain analyses and related source data on

Jan 1, 1975

By F. Freme

Coal production in the United States in 2008 reached a record level of 1.06 Gt (1,171.5 million st), according to preliminary data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) (Table 1). This is an increase of 2.2 percent, or 22.5 Mt (24.8 million st) above the 2007 level and 7.9 Mt (8.7 million st) above the prior record level set in 2006. Although coal production was higher in 2008, U.S. total coal consumption decreased in all sectors for the year. Coal consumption in the electric power sector in 2008 was lower by 0.3 percent, while coking coal consumption decreased by 2.8 percent and the other industrial sector declined by 3.7 percent. The commercial and institutional sector, that had been called the ?residential and commercial? sector prior to 2008, declined by 0.6 percent in 2008. It is the smallest of all the coal-consuming sectors. (Note: All percent-age change calculations are done at the short-tons level.) U.S. coal exports were significantly higher in 2008, while coal imports decreased during the year. Total coal stocks increased in 2008, as some consumers added to their stockpiles. The coal synfuel industry, which grew throughout most of this decade, disappeared from the scene due to the expiration of the available federal tax credits at the end of 2007. The decline in coal consumption during the year was the consequence of slowing domestic economic growth, particularly in the latter half of the year, combined with the weather conditions in 2008, resulting in lower demand for electricity. Preliminary data show that total generation in the electric power sector (electric utilities and independent power producers, including useful thermal output) in the U.S. decreased in 2008. Coal-based generation also decreased, resulting in a 3.2-Mt (3.5-mil-lion st) drop in coal consumed in the electric power sec-tor. Coal use in the non-electricity sector decreased by 3.3 percent to a level of 72.6 Mt (80.1 million st). The international coal markets in 2008 were the driv-

Jan 1, 2009

By Bao K. Le, Khang T. Truong, Masaki Kitazume, Toru Kobayshi, Long P. Le, Tanaka Hitoshi, Makoto Kamimura, Hoang-Hung Tran-Nguyen

"Earth levees constructed using dredged materials taken from a river along an earth levee have annually damaged in the Mekong Delta due to high void spacing in earth levees and floodwater. Sliding and internal erosion due to floodwater or piping are two key factors causing earth levees’ failures. This study proposed to apply Deep Mixing Method (DMM) to reinforce earth levees in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. The DMM creates a soil cement wall or soilcrete wall having better engineering properties such as higher strength and low hydraulic conductivity than those of the in-situ soils. The DMM can be applied to reinforce earth levees with limit additional materials that provinces in the Mekong Delta are difficult to supply. The study investigates capacity of the DMM to reinforce earth levees in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam against annual floods. Seepage and slope stability analyses under various conditions were performed with various scenarios of earth levee’s body. The analysis results indicate that the DMM can create a wall that cuts off piping across earth levee significantly and can improve stability against deep sliding due to rapid drawdown of the floodwater.INTRODUCTIONThe Mekong Delta produces agriculture products of 50% of the whole country even though the Mekong Delta has an agriculture area of 30% of the country (Wikipedia 2014). Rice is the main product for the domestic demand and export. This is the main reason why the local people want to cultivate rice 3 times per year to increase the total rice product for export. To do that, the local provinces have constructed earth levees surrounding each area of 100-200-hectare against annual floods to protect rice fields, and farmers can grow rice in the whole year. There are thousands of kilometers long earth levees in the Mekong Delta, and the local governments have spent millions of US dollars to repair and to maintain their earth levees yearly (reports of Dong Thap province 2012; 2014).Earth levees in the Mekong Delta have often failed in flood seasons (e.g., from August to December), especially in Dong Thap and An Giang provinces – the two provinces confronting directly the annual floods from the Mekong River when the floods reach the Vietnam land. The main failure of earth levees is piping, and then causing collapse of some section of an earth levee. An earth levee was usually constructed by piling up dredged materials along a river with minimum compaction. Subsequently, floodwater flows through connected void spacing and washes out soil particles in the body of an earth levee slowly to create piping. Annual wet-dry cycles make the top clay layer swelling and shrinking to form cracks that can store rainwater to trigger sliding (whitlow 2001; Ton That Vinh 2003)."

Jan 1, 2015

By Y. Hwang, C Kang

To understand the effect of thermal loading from HLW on the groundwater flow nearby, the coupling of TH in an equivalent porous medium is studied. Results indicate that under given conditions the alteration of groundwater flow by decay heat is localized phenomena. More comprehensive studies are underway for THM coupling. Zum Verstandnis fur die Wirkung der thermischen Belastung von HLW in der Nahe von Grundwasserstrom, ist die Verbindung von TH in den entsprechenden porigen Medium erarbeitet. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass unter vorgegebenen Bedingungen die Anderung von Grundwasserstrom durch Zerfallwarme lokalisiert wird. Zusatzliche umfassende Arbeiten sind fur die THM Kupplung auf dem Wege. Pour comprendre l'effet du chargement thermique de HLW sur l'écoulement d'eaux souterraines tout près, l'accouplement du TH dans un milieu poreux équivalent est étudié. Les résultats indiquent que dans des conditions données le changement d'écoulement d'eaux souterraines par la chaleur d'affaiblissement est des phénomènes localisés. Des études plus complètes sont en cours pour l'accouplement de THM.

Jan 1, 2003