Field test of high-power microwave-assisted mechanical excavation for deep hard iron ore

Microwave-assisted mechanical excavation has great application prospects in mines and tunnels,but there are few field experiments on microwave-assisted rock breaking.This paper takes the Sishanling iron mine as the research object and adopts the self-developed high-power microwave-induced fracturing test system for hard rock to conduct field experiments of microwave-induced fracturing of iron ore.The heating and reflection evolution characteristics of ore under different microwave parameters(antenna type,power,and working distance)were studied,and the optimal microwave parameters were obtained.Subsequently,the ore was irradiated with the optimal microwave parameters,and the cracking effect of the ore under the action of the high-power open microwave was analyzed.The results show that the reflection coefficient(standing wave ratio)can be rapidly(<5 s)and automatically adjusted below the preset threshold value(1.6)as microwave irradiation is performed.When using a right-angle horn antenna with a working distance of 5 cm,the effect of automatic reflection adjustment reaches the best among other antenna types and working distances.When the working distance is the same,the average temperature of the irradiation surface and the area of the high-temperature area under the action of the two antennas(right-angled and equal-angled horn antenna)are basically the same and decrease with the increase of working distance.The optimal microwave parameters are:a right-angle horn antenna with a working distance of 5 cm.Subsequently,in further experiments,the optimal parameters were used to irradiate for 20 s and 40 s at a microwave power of 60 kW,respectively.The surface damage extended 38 cm×30 cm and 53 cm×30 cm,respectively,and the damage extended to a depth of about 50 cm.The drilling speed was increased by 56.2%and 66.5%,respectively,compared to the case when microwaves were not used.

Development of high-power microwave mechanical integrated continuous mining device

This article introduces a high-power microwave mechanical integrated continuous mining device,which can achieve synchronous cutting of hard rocks by microwave and machinery.The device includes a cutting system,a rotary translation system,a loading system,a high-power microwave system,and a control and monitoring system.The technology of“master-slave follow-up”disc cutter alternating side cutting of rock was proposed,which could improve the effectiveness of rock breaking.The integrated structure of a microwave-cut system was then proposed,and synchronous motion of the microwave-cut system and adjustment of the loading system could be realized.The automatic adjustment technology of the microwave working distance was developed to dynamically control the optimal microwave working distance.The basic functions of the equipment were verified by tests.By comparing the two types of disk cutters,it is found that the master-slave follow-up disk cutter can improve significantly the dust removal effect and rock breaking efficiency in rock breaking process versus the conventional large disc cutter.Cutting tests of slate with or without microwave were conducted using a master-slave follow-up disk cutter.The results show that the cutting patterns of slates change from intermittent chunks(without microwave irradiation)to persistent debris(with microwave irradiation),and the cutting speed is significantly improved(170%).The development of the device provides a scientific basis for changing the conventional mining technology of metal mines and realizing the mechanical continuous mining in hard metal mines.

A novel true triaxial test system for microwave-induced fracturing of hard rocks

This study introduces a test system for microwave-induced fracturing of hard rocks under true triaxial stress.The test system comprises a true triaxial stress loading system,an open-ended microwaveinduced fracturing system,a data acquisition system,an acoustic emission(AE)monitoring system,and an auxiliary specimen loading system.Microwave-induced surface and borehole fracturing tests under true triaxial stress were fulfilled for the first time,which overcomes the problem of microwave leakage in the coupling loading of true triaxial stress and microwave.By developing the dynamic monitoring system,the thermal response and fracture evolution were obtained during microwave irradiation.The monitoring system includes the infrared thermometry technique for monitoring rock surface temperature,the distributed optic fiber sensing technique for monitoring temperature in borehole in rock,the AE technique and two-dimensional digital speckle correlation technique for monitoring the evolution of thermal damage and the rock fracturing process.To validate the advantages of the test system and investigate the characteristics of microwave-induced fracturing of hard rocks,the study demonstrates the experimental methods and results for microwave-induced surface and borehole fracturing under true triaxial stress.The results show that thermal cracking presented intermittent characteristics(calm eactiveecalm)during microwave-induced surface and borehole fracturing of basalt.In addition,true triaxial stress can inhibit the development and distribution of thermal cracks during microwave-induced surface fracturing.When microwave-induced borehole fracturing occurs,it promotes the distribution of thermal cracks in rock,but inhibits the width of cracks.The results also prove the reliability of the test system.

An open-end high-power microwave-induced fracturing system for hard rock

Microwave pre-treatment is considered as a promising technique for alleviating cutter wear. This paper introduces a high-power microwave-induced fracturing system for hard rock. The test system consists of a high-power microwave subsystem (100 kW), a true triaxial testing machine, a dynamic monitoring subsystem, and an electromagnetic shielding subsystem. It can realize rapid microwave-induced fracturing, intelligent tuning of impedance, dynamic feedback under strong microwave fields, and active control of microwave parameters by addressing the following issues: the instability and insecurity of the system, the discharge breakdown between coaxial lines during high-power microwave output, and a lack of feedback of rock-microwave response. In this study, microwave-induced surface and borehole fracturing tests under true triaxial stress were carried out. Experimental comparisons imply that high-power microwave irradiation can reduce the fracturing time of hard rock and that the fracture range (160 mm) of a 915-MHz microwave source is about three times that of 2.45 GHz. After microwave-induced borehole fracturing, many tensile cracks occur on the rock surface and in the borehole: the maximum reduction of the P-wave velocity is 12.8%. The test results show that a high-power microwave source of 915 MHz is more conducive to assisting mechanical rock breaking and destressing. The system can promote the development of microwave-assisted rock breaking equipment.

Microwave response characteristics and influencing factors of ores based on dielectric properties of synthetic samples

In order to understand the influence of different factors on the microwave response characteristics of ores,the effects of electrical conductivity,metal mineral content,compactness,metal mineral distribution,microwave frequency and temperature on the dielectric properties of synthetic ores(metal mineral and quartz)were studied.Microwave heating tests were carried out on three types of natural ores(Hongtoushan copper ore,Sishanling iron ore and Dandong gold ore)with significant differences in metal mineral contents.The test results showed that under microwave irradiation,the stronger the electrical conductivity of the metal minerals,the smaller the penetration depth in synthetic ore.For those metal minerals with lower electrical conductivity,the microwave absorption coefficient of the synthetic samples increases with increasing metal mineral content.For those metal minerals with higher electrical conductivity,the microwave absorption coefficient of the samples first increases and then decreases as the metal mineral content increases.When the metal minerals are distributed in layers,the penetration depth is much less than that given a uniform distribution.The penetration depth in the sample at microwave frequency of 915 MHz is greater than that at 2.45 GHz.The higher the electrical conductivity of metal minerals used in synthetic ores,the higher the high-temperature sensitivity of electromagnetic shielding coefficient(0.C-500.C).The Hongtoushan copper ore with high metal mineral content exhibits obvious size effect.The effects of ore structure and crystal particle size on the distribution characteristics of microcracks were discussed.Based on the test results,a quantitative prediction model of microwave sensitivity of ore was proposed,which provides guidance for the prediction of ore heating effect and the selection of microwave heating sequence of ore.