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By Artur Camposo Pereira

A crescente preocupação com a qualidade da cerâmica vermelha e com o uso racional dos recursos naturais utilizados por ela, tem motivado a diversas pesquisas em busca de uma otimização de seu uso. Atualmente o setor produtivo, localizado no Norte do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, no município de Campos, conta com mais de 100 cerâmicas que fazem uso de um método empírico para formulação de massa cerâmica, tendo como principal consequência à perda da qualidade de seus produtos, isso e fruto da insuficiência de estudos dos solos em diferentes pontos das jazidas utilizadas. Este trabalho tem como objetivo a caracterização, através de ensaios de granulometria, Limites de Atterberg e análise química para um conhecimento dos solos a serem utilizados na composição da mistura. Este conhecimento traz maior percepção quanto a algumas dificuldades a serem enfrentadas pelos processos produtivos. Com os resultados encontrados pode-se dar algumas diretrizes iniciais para uma melhor adequação na formulação das misturas, diminuindo o empirismo e aumentando a qualidade dos produtos.

Oct 30, 2017

By Bernardo J. Jiménez, Harlem Lora, Roberto Acosta Mora

Circunvalacion Norte project is currently the most important infrastructure project in Costa Rica. It is the last segment of the urban perimeter highway. Site investigation of local geotechnical conditions were studied by SPT, CPT, pressuremeter tests and boreholes. A static load test was executed as a proof test with an associated ultimate resistance of 12056 kN (2710 kips). Drilled shaft design was done using PMT tests and axial nominal resistance varied between 4000 kN (900 kips) and 6000 kN (1350 kips). A total of 416 drilled shafts were constructed in 15 months with drill performance of 32 m/day (105 ft/day). Drilled shaft lengths varied between 4,0 (13 ft) m and 40,0 m (130 ft). Selfconsolidating concrete was used to achieve an adequate workability even in high densities rebar cages. Several site conditions proved the importance for maintenance of the working platform, predrilling of rock sockets and having spare parts to avoid increase in project’s cost. New procedures were taken to prevent concrete segregation on excavations near underground water flow. Monitoring the quality of the shafts from CSL test showed less than 3% of the shafts presented a considerable anomaly, which proved that the adopted construction method and materials were adequate. For the concrete anomalies, successful remediation was performed by means of grout at the base of the shaft with two different types of drilling methodology depending on the concrete anomaly.

By Sidmar Aparecido Ceresani

O presente estudo tem como objetivo demonstrar a cinética de recristalização e o amolecimento da liga C272000 processada na laminação a frio com uma deformação de 75%. Para determinar o modelo cinético Johnson, Mehl e Kolmogorov (JMAK) foi adotado a temperatura de 450° entre 5min. a 50min. Restaurando totalmente a microestrutura deformada plasticamente sendo progressiva a elevação do tempo e da temperatura. A caracterização microestrutural das amostras foi utilizado microscopia óptica e metalografia. Conclui-se que o modelo JMAK satisfaz a forma de nucleação da recristalização da liga C272000.

Oct 30, 2017

By Jamey Rosen

A Project Information Management System (PIMS) was developed to manage and analyze QC data at the Herbert Hoover Dike Rehabilitation Dam Modification Cutoff Wall (owned by the Jacksonville District of the United States Army Corps of Engineers). A special feature of this PIMS was its geospatial component. Data collected from Bauer drill rigs were automatically “geoprocessed” into threedimensional features representing the predrill, jet grout, and Cutter Soil Mixing panel elements, as well as calculated verticality and overlap metrics. These features were visualized in interactive planimetric, profile, and 3D views that facilitated several quality control activities during the project.

By Ignacio Ferreira França Monjardim Barradas

A elevação da capacidade de um compressor pode se feita de diversas maneiras: incrementando a abertura da guide vane (válvula de admissão – incremento da rotação), diminuindo a temperatura de sucção, abrindo a válvula de recirculação, etc. Neste trabalho exploraremos essa elevação para compressores de Nitrogênio gasoso através do aumento da pressão de sucção destes equipamentos. Este incremento da pressão de sucção foi obtido através da redução da perda de carga na sucção do compressor. Temos dois possíveis benefícios neste caso: o aumento da vazão volumétrica mantendo a mesma pressão de descarga, ou a redução do consumo de energia do equipamento através da redução da abertura da válvula de admissão (guide vane) para disponibilizar uma mesma vazão volumétrica. Essa otimização do sistema foi obtida através da substituição do filtro de sucção do equipamento por um de maior diâmetro e, consequentemente, menor perda de carga. Originalmente o filtro encontrava-se numa tubulação com menor diâmetro: um novo filtro foi especificado e instalado num trecho de tubulação com maior diâmetro.

Oct 30, 2017

By Samara Sâmid Aguiar Correia

A crescente necessidade por resultados de análises laboratoriais dentro das indústrias são cada vez mais exigentes em termos de tempo de resposta e precisão. Aliado a isso, a elevação do volume de minério de ferro exportado e o aumento da variabilidade desses produtos requerem processos cada vez mais rigorosos e tomados de decisões mais rápidas. Nesse contexto, os analisadores on-line têm um papel fundamental, pois atendem tais exigências, além de preservarem a segurança operacional. Este trabalho tem por objetivo mostrar o desenvolvimento da implantação de analisadores de umidade on line na descarga dos vagões da Vale no Terminal Ponta da Madeira. A metodologia utilizada na medição de umidade dos analisadores usa o princípio de transmissão de micro-ondas, que é a melhor tecnologia disponível no mercado para este fim. Dentre as etapas de implantação, que abrange desde a aquisição dos equipamentos até a avaliação dos controles e ajustes operacionais, é mostrado o período de cada etapa, os problemas encontrados e as soluções adotadas. Em suma, atualmente há medição de umidade on line na descarga deste site e está em fase de implantação a análise durante o carregamento do embarque para controle de processo.

Aug 1, 2018

By Greisson Peixoto Rangel

A variação da resistência à compressão de argamassas geopoliméricas foi estudada em função da razão ativador/precursor e da molaridade da solução ativadora. As argamassas estudadas foram confeccionadas com metacaulim (precursor) ativado com solução composta por hidróxido de potássio e água destilada, e areia normal brasileira. De acordo com os resultados, a resistência aumenta com a diminuição da razão ativador/precursor e com o aumento da molaridade da solução ativadora. Além disso, os valores encontrados condizem com os presentes da literatura e com possíveis aplicações para argamassas de múltiplo uso.

Oct 30, 2017

By Verônica Scarpini Candido

Foi notado que o rejeito originado a partir do beneficiamento do caulim é rico em silico-aluminatos, apresentando assim potencial em processo de adsorção. O presente trabalho consiste em avaliar o potencial adsortivo do rejeito do caulim quimicamente tratado. Foi utilizado o corante de azul de metileno (AM) em solução aquosa para se ter o conhecimento de adsorção do rejeito de caulim in natura e calcinado a 700ºC onde ambos foram submetidos a uma ativação química com H2SO4. Após o equilíbrio da amostra do rejeito do caulim junto ao azul de metileno, suas concentrações foram determinadas por espectrofotometria. Os resultados preliminares comprovam que o rejeito apresenta uma boa capacidade adsortiva para concentração de até 50,00 mg/L de AM, demostrando, potencial para ser utilizado na remoção de corantes em tratamento de afluentes.

Oct 30, 2017

By D. Caruso

The health and financial costs of cumulative injuries are plaguing the mining industry. Industry leaders are concentrating on reducing the risk of injury to their workers through design and redesign of work environments. While ergonomics is not a currently regulated field, many mines are realizing that the only way to tackle their most costly injuries, cumulative injuries, is to make the proactive choice to understand those injuries, their root causes and to make workplace changes to prevent them from occurring. Reduction of these injuries not only improves the health and morale of the workers but increases productivity and profit for the companies. Knowledge and reporting of ergonomic risk factors by employees and ergonomics committees is key to these changes and to the reduction of cumulative injuries. NIOSH is developing strong relationships with industry associations and equipment manufacturers to leverage their communication abilities to transfer knowledge to their customers and make a difference in the health and safety of U.S. miners. The benefits of a formalized approach to reducing these injuries along with examples will be presented.

In 2004, data obtained from the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) indicated a total of 891 underground (6.2%) and 13,587 surface (93.8%) mining operations.

Sep 1, 2007

By V. K. Risinggård, M. Sparta

We report on the development of a finite-element method model for a pilot furnace for the production of manganese alloys. The model is a multiphysics model that addresses material flow, electrical conditions, heat transfer, and physical and chemical transformations. It is capable of studying both quasi-steady and transient states in time-dependent simulations. The model includes common charge materials and fluxes and can simulate production of both ferromanganese and silicomanganese alloys with acid and basic slags, as well as changing charge compositions. The model output provides access to the material distribution in the furnace during furnace runs, temperature profiles, current paths, energy balances, and alloy and slag production rates and compositions.

Apr 16, 2024

By S. T. Johansen, B. T. Løvfall, T. Rodriguez Duran

In this paper we develop a physics-based model for lining erosion in steel ladles. The model predicts the temperature evolution in the liquid slag, steel, refractory bricks, and outer steel shell of the ladle. The flow of slag and steel is due to forced convection induced by inert gas injection, vacuum treatment (extreme bubble expansion), natural convection, and waves caused by the gas stirring. The lining erosion takes place by dissolution of refractory elements into the steel or slag. The mass and heat transfer coefficients inside the ladle during gas stirring are modelled based on wall functions which take the distribution of wall shear velocities as a critical input. The wall shear velocities are obtained from computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations for a sample of scenarios, spanning out the operational space, and a model is developed using curve fitting. The model is capable of reproducing both thermal and erosion evolution well. Deviations between model predictions and industrial data are discussed. The model is fast and has been tested successfully in a ‘semi-online’ application. The model source code is available to the public at [https://github.com/SINTEF/refractorywear].

Apr 16, 2024

By E. Lutz, M. Momayez, K. W. Brown Requist

As real-time air quality monitoring becomes more prevalent in US underground mines, it is important to provide the highest data reliability with the fewest possible sensors. Real-time sensors remain costly, and these costs are not exclusively financial; the time required to install, calibrate, and maintain real-time sensors poses a large barrier to widespread implementation. Current atmospheric monitoring systems typically rely on displaying point-specific values. This requires operators to infer real-time airborne contamination distributions. Monitoring and control software utilizing mine ventilation network (MVN) solvers has been implemented in limited cases because of their ability to simulate ventilation systems quickly, but these solvers use a one-dimensional representation of the mine, limiting spatial resolution of estimated distributions. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has likewise been considered as a means to improve spatial resolution, but processing times prevent its use as a basis for monitoring and control. For the real-time monitoring of airborne contamination distributions, we propose a spatial interpolation method that can estimate the distribution of airborne contaminants in near-real time. This method provides a middle ground between fast processing times and increased spatial resolution. With the use of a pathfinding algorithm and optimization through absolute percentage error minimization, this method outperforms spatial interpolation with a Euclidean distance. By providing contamination distribution information to operators, this method and its derivatives stand to outperform current atmospheric monitoring systems.

Apr 16, 2024

By G. Akdogan, Q. G. Reynolds, S. J. Baumgartner

A computational model of a submerged arc furnace (SAF) used in the production of ferrochrome is presented. The model‘s intended use is to investigate the extent to which intrinsic and extrinsic properties of the raw materials affect burden distribution and electrical resistance within the furnace. The model is built on the discrete element method and calculates the mechanical interactions of particle distributions resulting from the flow motion of typical raw materials used in the smelting of chromium ore. This model excludes the effects of thermodynamics, furnace chemistry, and heat transfer. It illustrates how the consumption of materials (chromite pellets, flux, and reductant) is affected by changes in electrode length, reductant fractions, and reductant sizing and density during the formation of a reductant bed. The resistance calculation algorithm developed by Mintek was applied to construct networks developed from particle contacts, which can quantitatively generate estimates of the electrode-to-electrode and electrode-to-bath electrical conduction conditions.

Apr 16, 2024

By S. T. Johansen, B. T. Løvfall, T. Rodriguez Duran, J. Zoric

A methodology for building pragmatic physics-based models is here adapted to predict the erosion of ladle linings in the steel industry, in order to support operators when deciding whether the lining can be used safely for another heat. A defective lining may allow 140 t of molten steel to spill, with disastrous consequences for workers and plant. The adopted work flow for the development, challenges faced, and some model results are presented. One key learning outcome is that model development should allow time for maturing the process understanding, as well as for many iterations by ‘questions-responses and actions’ at various stages in the model development. Good interaction between the development team and industry case owner is an important success factor. Combining or extending the model with the use of machine learning and cognition-related methods, such as knowledge graphs and self-adaptive algorithms, is discussed.

Apr 16, 2024

By B. Yu, M-H. Cao, C. Zhou, X-Z. Zhang

The transient infiltration and lubrication behaviour of slag during continuous casting of steel is important for billet quality. A two-dimensional coupled mathematical mould model was developed to investigate these phenomena. The accuracy of the model was verified by comparing the calculated slag consumption with measurements by the plant. The results show that the liquid slag is consumed from the middle and late period of positive strip time to the next early period of positive strip time, including the entire negative strip time. The maximum downward infiltration velocity and positive pressure in the slag channel is at the middle of the negative strip time. Increasing the positive pressure of the slag channel is conducive to lubrication. The shear stresses acting on the shell surface and at the mould side were determined by the lubrication slag consumption and total slag consumption, respectively, and gradually decreased with increasing slag consumption. The negative strip time was lengthened to increase the slag consumption and prolong the time near the maximum downward shear stress, so as to be conducive to the demould.

Apr 16, 2024

By Y. Ren, B. Yang

The magnetic field characteristics due to electromagnetic stirring in the secondary cooling zone of an extra-thick slab during continuous casting are numerically determined using Maxwell's equations, with particular emphasis on the distribution of magnetic induction intensity and electromagnetic force, as well as the influence of process parameters on the magnetic field. The orientation of the electromagnetic force is the same when the electromagnetic stirrers at the 30° and 60° posistions of the arc-shaped slab are powered in the same direction; otherwise, the orientation is opposite. The magnetic induction at the centre of the section of the stirrer's central axis at the 30° positio, as well as the current, frequency, and fitting formulae, are as follows: B = {0.075I.(1/A)-0.3} mT and B = {-1.75f.(1/Hz)+22} mT. The electromagnetic force and current fitting formula at the central point of the B-B section is F = {0.03168I2.(1/A2)-03.762I.(1/A)+326.7} N/m3, and the fitting formula of electromagnetic force and frequency at the centre point is divided into two segments. The first takes the form of a parabola: = {-21((f-4.3).(1/Hz)2)+970} N/m3, and the second segment is negative linear: F = {-1.65f.(1/Hz)+51.5} N/m3.

Apr 16, 2024

By J. H. Zietsman, M. W. Erwee, Q. G. Reynolds

Pyrometallurgical furnaces, essential for metal extraction, operate at temperatures exceeding 1600°C and represent complex multiphase systems that challenge direct industrial research. Multiphysics models play a key role in shedding light on their intricate behaviours, supporting the refinement of design and operational strategies. Integral to the operation are the tap-holes, which facilitate the removal of molten products and are routinely opened by lancing, a process comparable to the use of a cutting torch, where high temperatures result from oxygen reacting with an iron lance. When the lance pierces the clay, oxygen gas enters the furnace, which could influence the behaviour of the molten material inside. In this work, a multiphase fluid flow model was used to investigate bulk flow dynamics, with a focus on the effects of the lancing process on the inside of the furnace, immediately behind the tap-hole. Incompressible and compressible multiphase fluid solvers were used and compared with respect their performance – the intention was to assess whether using a compressible solver would yield a different solution to the incompressible one. It was concluded that there are negligible disparities in bulk fluid flow behaviour between the solvers for the case studies examined, indicating that solver selection might be less consequential for certain aspects of oxygen lancing.

Apr 16, 2024

By Otto L. Schumacher

The Overthrust Belt in portions of Montana, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming, an area that has contributed generously to the Nation's mineral supply, is one of the few remaining oil and gas frontiers on the North American continent. Determination of the oil and gas potential and development of mineral resources of the area have been affected by a variety of land withdrawals and other restrictions, The purpose of this study is to determine the extent of these withdrawals and restrictions and to discuss the mineral resource potential within the study area. Statistics in this report refer to land status on January 1, 1979. At that time, of the 27.3 million acres of Federal mineral lands within the study area, applications tor Federal oil and gas leases for more than 4,4 million acres (about 16 percent) were pending; the average length of time was 2 years. Federal oil and gas leases covering 8.8 million acres were also on record. Although drilling has occurred on some of these leases, others are subject to restrictions that discourage or prevent development. Some in fact contain stipulations disallowing any development.

Jan 1, 1981

By Eliane Hirata

En el año 2016 se identificó que el 79% de los trabajadores propios y terceros de Nexa presentaban al menos un riesgo relacionado con el estilo de vida, lo cual incentivo a que se buscaran programas que promovieran la calidad de vida. Por ello, en el año 2017, se impartió el programa de calidad de vida, el cual se enfoca en los pilares establecidos por la OMS para calidad de vida que son físico, psicológico, ambiente, relaciones sociales, autonomía y creencias. Así mismo, este programa estaba alineado con el OBS 3 - Salud y Bienestar, el cual busca garantizar una vida sana y promover el bienestar en todas las edades.

Sep 30, 2022