Coal/Gangue Volume Estimation with Convolutional Neural Network and Separation Based on Predicted Volume and Weight

In the coal mining industry,the gangue separation phase imposes a key challenge due to the high visual similaritybetween coal and gangue.Recently,separation methods have become more intelligent and efficient,using newtechnologies and applying different features for recognition.One such method exploits the difference in substancedensity,leading to excellent coal/gangue recognition.Therefore,this study uses density differences to distinguishcoal from gangue by performing volume prediction on the samples.Our training samples maintain a record of3-side images as input,volume,and weight as the ground truth for the classification.The prediction process relieson a Convolutional neural network(CGVP-CNN)model that receives an input of a 3-side image and then extractsthe needed features to estimate an approximation for the volume.The classification was comparatively performedvia ten different classifiers,namely,K-Nearest Neighbors(KNN),Linear Support Vector Machines(Linear SVM),Radial Basis Function(RBF)SVM,Gaussian Process,Decision Tree,Random Forest,Multi-Layer Perceptron(MLP),Adaptive Boosting(AdaBosst),Naive Bayes,and Quadratic Discriminant Analysis(QDA).After severalexperiments on testing and training data,results yield a classification accuracy of 100%,92%,95%,96%,100%,100%,100%,96%,81%,and 92%,respectively.The test reveals the best timing with KNN,which maintained anaccuracy level of 100%.Assessing themodel generalization capability to newdata is essential to ensure the efficiencyof the model,so by applying a cross-validation experiment,the model generalization was measured.The useddataset was isolated based on the volume values to ensure the model generalization not only on new images of thesame volume but with a volume outside the trained range.Then,the predicted volume values were passed to theclassifiers group,where classification reported accuracy was found to be(100%,100%,100%,98%,88%,87%,100%,87%,97%,100%),respectively.Although obtaining a classification with high accuracy is the main motive,this workhas a remarkable reduction in the data preprocessing time compared to related works.The CGVP-CNN modelmanaged to reduce the data preprocessing time of previous works to 0.017 s while maintaining high classificationaccuracy using the estimated volume value.

Fabrication of pollution-free coal gangue-based catalytic material utilizing ferrous chloride as activator for efficient peroxymonosulfate activation

Novel coal gangue-based persulfate catalyst(CG-FeCl_(2))was successfully synthesized by the means of calcinating under nitrogen atmosphere with the addition of ferrous chloride tetrahydrate(FeCl_(2)·_(4)H_(2)O).The phase transformation of the prepared materials and gas products during the heating process are thoroughly investigated.It is suggested that ferrous chloride participated in the phase transformation and formed Si-O-Fe bonds.And the main gaseous products are H_(2)O,H_(2),and HCl during the heating process.Besides,the ability of CG-FeCl_(2) to activate peroxymonosulfate(PMS)for catalytic degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs)and phenol was deeply studied.More than 95%of naphthyl,phenanthrene and phenol were removed under optimizied conditions.In addition,1O_(2),·OH,and SO_(4)·−were involved in the CG-FeCl_(2)/PMS system from the free radical scavenging experiment,where 1O_(2) played a major role during the oxidation process.Furthermore,CG-FeCl_(2)/PMS system exhibited superior stability in a relatively wide pH range and the presence of common anion from related degradation experiments.Overall,the novel CG-FeCl_(2) is an efficient and environmentally friendly catalyst,displaying potential application prospect in the field of PAHs and phenol-contaminated wastewater treatment.

Failure mechanisms and destruction characteristics of cemented coal gangue backfill under compression effect of non-uniform load

Backfill mining is one of the most important technical means for controlling strata movement and reducing surface subsidence and environmental damage during exploitation of underground coal resources. Ensuring the stability of the backfill bodies is the primary prerequisite for maintaining the safety of the backfilling working face, and the loading characteristics of backfill are closely related to the deformation and subsidence of the roof. Elastic thin plate model was used to explore the non-uniform subsidence law of the roof, and then the non-uniform distribution characteristics of backfill bodies’ load were revealed. Through a self-developed non-uniform loading device combined with acoustic emission (AE) and digital image correlation (DIC) monitoring technology, the synergistic dynamic evolution law of the bearing capacity, apparent crack, and internal fracture of cemented coal gangue backfills (CCGBs) under loads with different degrees of non-uniformity was deeply explored. The results showed that: 1) The uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of CCGB increased and then decreased with an increase in the degree of non-uniformity of load (DNL). About 40% of DNL was the inflection point of DNL-UCS curve and when DNL exceeded 40%, the strength decreased in a cliff-like manner;2) A positive correlation was observed between the AE ringing count and UCS during the loading process of the specimen, which was manifested by a higher AE ringing count of the high-strength specimen. 3) Shear cracks gradually increased and failure mode of specimens gradually changed from “X” type dominated by tension cracks to inverted “Y” type dominated by shear cracks with an increase in DNL, and the crack opening displacement at the peak stress decreased and then increased. The crack opening displacement at 40% of the DNL was the smallest. This was consistent with the judgment of crack size based on the AE b-value, i. e., it showed the typical characteristics of “small b-value-large crack and large b-value-small crack”. The research results are of significance for preventing the instability and failure of backfill.

Source apportionment of heavy metals in soils around a coal gangue heap with the APCS-MLR and PMF receptor models in Chongqing,southwest China

This study studied the characteristics and source apportionment of heavy metal pollution in the agricultural soil surrounding a gangue coal heap in Chongqing,China by using absolute principal component scores-multiple linear regression(APCSMLR)model and positive matrix factorization(PMF)model.The applicability of the models was compared in the assessment of source apportionment.The results showed that the average contents of Cd,Hg,As,Pb,Cr,Cu,Ni,and Zn in the surface soil were 0.46,0.14,9.66,31.2,127,95.6,76.0,and 158 mg/kg,respectively.Combined with the spatial distribution and correlation analyses,the results of source apportionment were consistent for both the APCSMLR and PMF models.Cd,Hg,As,and Pb were mainly affected by the gangue heap accumulation,with respective contributions of 74.6%,79.4%,69.1%,and 67.2%based on the APCS-MLR model and respective contributions of 69.7%,60.7%,57.4%,and 41.9%based on the PMF model.Ni and Zn were mainly affected by industrial and agricultural activities,while Cr and Cu were mainly affected by natural factors.The results of the source apportionment were approximately consistent between the APCS-MLR and PMF models.The combined application of the two receptor models can make the results of source apportionment more comprehensive,accurate,and reliable.

Properties and Hydration Mechanism of Cementitious Materials Prepared from Calcined Coal Gangue

The preparation of cementitious materials by replacing part of the cement with activated coal gangue is of great significance to the cement industry in terms of carbon reduction and coal-based solid waste utilization.For this paper,cementitious material was prepared by firing activated coal gangue under suspension conditions and batching it with limestone powder using Inner Mongolia coal gangue as raw material.The optimal ratio was determined by testing the strength changes of the cementitious material at 3,7,and 28 days of hydration,and the hydration process and mechanism were explored by combining the pore structure,heat of hydration,chemical composition,phase composition,and microscopic morphological characteristics of the hydration products.The results showed that the active materials formulated from activated gangue and limestone powder can be used to prepare cementitious materials with good performance at the level of 30%–50%replacement of cement.The optimal ratio was 30%replacement of cement,and the mass ratio of calcined gangue to limestone powder was 2:1.The 3 days compressive strength of this ratio was 28.8 MPa,which was only slightly lower than that of cement.However,the 28 days compressive strength of samples reached 67.5 MPa,which was much higher than that of the reference cement.In the hydration of this cementitious material,not only does the activated coal gangue react with the Ca(OH)_(2)formed by hydration to form C–S–H gel,but CaCO3 also participates in the reaction to form a new phase of carbon aluminate,and the two effects together promote the development of the later strength of the samples.This paper can provide a reference for carbon reduction in the cement production process and comprehensive utilization of coal gangue.

Transformation of Coal Gangue to Sodalite and Faujasite Using Alkali-hydrothermal Method

The coal gangue as the only source of silicon and aluminum was employed to synthesize sodalite and faujasite using hydrothermal method,which directly treated the mixture of pre-treated coal gangue and NaOH solution under hydrothermal environment.X-ray powder diffraction analysis(XRD),thermogravimetry analysis(TG)and differential thermogravimetry analysis(DTG),scanning electron microscopy(SEM),high resolution transmission electron microscopy(HRTEM),N_(2)adsorption-desorption technique,X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS),etc.were used to characterize the samples.Cd^(2+) ion was used to evaluate the heavy metal ions removal performance of the samples.The experimental results show that the coal gangue,which consists of quartz,calcium feldspar,potassium feldspar and kaolinite,can transform to sodalite and faujasite under alkali-hydrothermal condition at 150 and 180℃,respectively.The as-prepared sodalite and faujasite can effectively remove the simulated Cd2+ion wastewater and actual industrial wastewater containing As^(3+),Cd^(2+),and Cr^(3+)ions,and the good heavy metal ion removal performance of the zeolites is mainly attributed to their low Si/Al ratio and high Na+content.This alkali-hydrothermal method appears to be a simple and efficient method for transformation of coal gangue to high purity zeolites.

Multi-criteria comparative analysis of the pressure drop on coal gangue fly-ash slurry at different parts along an L-shaped pipeline

Disposing of coal gangue and fly-ash on the surface is a risky method with tremendous potential catastrophic consequences for the environment.Backfill mining is a promising practice for turning those hazardous wastes into functional backfill materi-als.Unfortunately,how to efficiently deliver the slurry to the desired places remains under-researched.To address this issue,the computational fluid dynamics software Fluent was used in the current study in addition to a laboratory rheological test to simulate the impact of various parameters on the evolution of pressure at a particular section of the pipeline.Furthermore,the response surface method was employed to investigate how the various components and their corresponding influencing weights interact to affect the pressure drop.This study demonstrates that the pressure drop of the slurry is highly influenced by slurry concentration,speed,and pipe diameter.While conveying speed is the main component in the bend section,pipe diameter takes over in the horizontal and vertical pipe sections.

Experimental Study on Ratio and Performance of Coal Gangue/Bottom Ash Geopolymer Double-Liquid Grouting Material

Mine grouting reinforcement and water plugging projects often require large amounts of grouting materials.To reduce the carbon emission of grouting material production,improve the utilization of solid waste from mining enterprises,and meet the needs of mine reinforcement and seepage control,a double-liquid grouting material containing a high admixture of coal gangue powder/bottom ash geopolymer was studied.The setting time,fluidity,bleeding rate,and mechanical properties of grouting materials were studied through laboratory tests,and SEM analyzed the microstructure of the materials.The results show that the total mixture of calcined gangue does not exceed 60%.And the proportion of bottom ash replacing cement should be within 30%.At the same time,the volume mixture of sodium silicate is 20%.And the water-solid ratio does not exceed 0.6.The stability of the slurry prepared under this ratio is good.The microstructure of the stone body is dense,and its strength can meet the requirements of rock reinforcement and seepage control.Its economic and environmental benefits are more significant than the traditional cement-silicate double-liquid grouting material.

Preparation of Lightweight Alumina-silica Castables by Replacing Closed-cell Perlite Aggregates with Coal Gangue Ceramsites

Lightweight alumina-silica castables were prepared using closed-cell perlite(2-4 mm),open-cell perlite(4-6 mm)and coal gangue ceramsites(2-5 mm)as aggregates,floating beads(0.3-0.5 mm),sinking beads(0.6-0.8 mm),silica micropowder,α-Al_(2)O_(3) micropowder,zirconia and zircon micropowder as fines,and Secar 71 cement(calcium aluminate cement)as the binder.The effects of the coal gangue ceramsites addition(0,6%,12%,18%and 24%,by mass)on the properties of the as-prepared lightweight alumina-silica castables were investigated.The results show that:(1)the addition of coal gangue ceramsites can reduce the sintering shrinkage of the specimens and help to improve the strength and thermal shock resistance;(2)the samples with the addition of coal gangue ceramsites can produce pores in the matrix of the sintered samples,which provides enough space for the growth of CA6 complex solid solution and expands the irregular lamellar structure;(3)with the addition of coal gangue ceramsites increasing,the linear shrinkage of the samples heat treated at 1000 or 1200℃firstly reduces and then increases,the bulk density increases and the apparent porosity decreases;the cold compression strength and the thermal shock resistance of the specimens heat treated at 1200℃firstly increase and then decrease.Thus,the optimal addition of coal gangue ceramsites is 18%.

Prediction of compressive strength of cement mortars with fly ash and activated coal gangue

The pozzolanic activity of coal gangue, which is calcining at 500 to 1 000 ℃, differs distinctly. The simplex-centroid design with upper and lower bounds of component proportion is adopted to study the compressive strength of mortars made with ternary blends of cement, activated coal gangue and fly ash. Based on the results of a minimum of seven design points, three special cubic polynomial models are used to establish the strength predicating equations at different ages for mortars. Five experimental checkpoints were also designed to verify the precision of the equations. The most frequent errors of the predicted values are within 3%. A simple and practical way is provided for determining the optimal proportion of two admixtures when they are used in concrete.

Raw Gangue Filling Mining under Construction —A Case Study in China

In order to recover the strip pillar coal resources, reduce the amount of gangue mountain and realize remediation of the goaf environment in the old mining area, the raw gangue filling mining technology was proposed. According to the previous practical experience, the feasibility of the implementation of raw gangue filling mining technology in the coal-pressed area was analyzed. Through the filling gangue compaction test, the deformation under different loading stages was obtained. Further, a reasonable prediction of the deformation beyond the experimental limited loading load was made based on the experimental results. Through the deformation source analysis of the whole process of gangue filling, the key factors for controlling deformation before, during, and after filling were determined. Additionally, the proportion of deformation during different stages was quantified. Considering the protection of surface buildings, mining fullness of the working face and mining technology, the production parameters of 1209 and 1210 filling working faces were preliminarily determined. Through numerical simulation, the rationality of mining scheme was verified. Based on the practice of 1209 working face and the key factors to control the deformation of gangue filling, the mining system and process in 1210 working face were optimized. According to the measured surface rock movement, raw gangue filling mining technology can meet the requirements of surface building protection level. Especially, this paper provides a method to quantitatively calculate the equivalent mining height (EMH) of raw gangue filling and its mining deformation, which has reference significance for old mining areas.

Utilization of Coal Gangue and Copper Tailings as Clay for Cement Clinker Calcinations

In order to avoid environmental pollution from Coal gangue （CG） and copper tailings （CT）, the utilization as cement clinker calcinations was experimentally investigated. Low-calcium limestone was also selected as another raw material. The clinker component and microstructure were analyzed by XRD and SEM. The experimental results showed that qualified cement clinker could be generated by substituting CG and CT compound for clay. While mixed with high-calcium limestone and low-calcium limestone, the calcinations temperature were 50 ℃ or 100 ℃ lower than that of clay. CT and CG contain oxygen-rich minerals and potential of geological rock energy. The energy of CG performs functions and drops down sintering temperature. The calcination time was shortened and the clinker sintering coal consumption reduced while substituting CG and CT for clay, and also served the reutilization of low-calcium limestone, CG and CT.

Effect of Coal Gangue with Different Kaolin Contents on Compressive Strength and Pore Size of Blended Cement Paste

The effects of activated coal gangue on compressive strength, porosity and pore size distribution of hardened cement pastes were investigated. Activated coal gangue with two different kaolin contents, one higher and one lower, were used to partially replace Portland cement at 0%, 10%, and 30% by weight. The water to binder ratio（w/b） of 0.5 was used for all the blended cement paste mixes. Experimental results indicate that the blended cement of activated coal gangue mortar with higher kaolin mineral content has a higher compressive strength than that with lower kaolin mineral content. The porosity and pore size of blended cement mortar were significantly affected by the replacement of activated coal gangue.

Pozzolanic Activity of Burned Coal Gangue and Its Effects on Structure of Cement Mortar

The pozzolanic activity of coal gangue burned at different burning temperatures was investigated. The burned coal gangue was mixed with portland cement in different proportions （ 20% - 60% ）. The pozzolanic activity of coal gangue burned and the hydration products were examined, the compressive strengths of the pastes of the mixtures were tested, and the mechanism of the reaction was discussed. The experimental results slum, that the coal gangue burned at 750 ℃ has the optimum pozzolanic activity, and the burned coal ganguc with SiO2 and Al2 O3 is in an active form. When the coal gangue burned at 750℃ is mixed into portland cement, the content of calcium hydroxide in paste is significantly reduced, while the contents of hydrated calcium silk.ate and hydrated calcium aluminate are increased accordingly, hence resulting in the improvement of the microstructure of mortar. The compressive strength of cement paste decreases with increasing the content of burncd coal gangue. The decease in strength is small in the range of 20% - 30% coal gangue substitution and significant in 30%- 60% substitution.

Effects of Surface-activated Coal Gangue Aggregates on Properties of Cement-based Materials

Effects of calcined coal gangue （CG） aggregates treated by the surface thermal activation on the flowability and strength, and paste-CG aggregate interfaces of the cement-based material were investigated. The experimental results show that the compressive and flexural strength of the cement-based material with the calcined CG aggregates is much higher than that of the material with the natural CG aggregates, but the flowability of the material with calcined CG is significantly reduced with the calcined time. The strength of the material with the calcined CG aggregates only increases little with the calcined time at the same w/c ratio, but is reduced with the calcined time at the same flowability. The CG aggregates calcined by the surface thermal activation obviously overcomes the disadvantages of fully calcined CG.

Research on Potential Fertilization of Coal Gangue in the Weibei Coalfield,China

Based on the systematic analysis of the coal gangue in Weibei Coalfield, such as petrologic characteristics, chemical composition, nutrient elements, deleterious elements, and the transformation, and compared with the soil element content background values of Loess Plateau and national harmful materials controlling standards, we conclude that the coal gangue in the Weibei Coalfield has huge potential to be used as clay fertilizer.

Direct-impact of sieving coal and gangue

Gangue from underground separation of coal can directly be used for filling mined out areas, saving transport capacity and reducing the amount of waste polluting the environment above the ground. We introduced a structure and operating principle of an underground direct-impact sieving device by which a separation experiment was carried out. By means of high speed conveyer belts, coal and gangue impacted the breaking board at high speeds ranging from 6 to 14 m/s. Given the differences of hardness between coal and gangue, after selective crushing, the gangue with the higher hardness was crushed less and coal with lower hardness crushed more, which could be separated by a 50 mm sieving plate. The material above the sieving plate was disposed of as gangue and the material below as coal. The results indicate that the crush ratio below the 50 mm sieving plate increases linearly with an increase in impact velocity and decays exponentially with an increase in hardness. Employing this equipment to separate coal and gangue, the hardness of coal f should be <2. This separation device provides relatively good effect in separating coal and gangue with a relatively wide difference of hardness.

Structure and Pozzolanic Activity of Calcined Coal Gangue during the Process of Mechanical Activation

On the basis of analyzing coal gangue＇s chemical and mineral compositions, the structure change of coal gangue during the mechanical activation was investigated by XRD, FTIR, NMR, and the mechanical strength of the cement doped coal gangue with various specific surface area was tested. The experimental results indicate that, the lattice structure of metakaolin in coal gangue samples calcined at 700 ℃ disorganizes gradually and becomes disordered, and the lattice structure of α-quartz is distorted slightly. The pozzolanic activity of the coal gangue increases obviously with its structural disorganization.

Paste-like self-flowing transportation backfilling technology based on coal gangue

A paste-like self-flowing pipeline transportation backfilling technology with coal gangue as aggregate is proposed to remove the potential damage caused by coal gangue piles. As well, the difficult problems of recovering high quality safety coal pillars and deep mining of the Suncun Coal Mine （SCM）, Xinwen Coal Group, Shandong are resolved. The physical-chemical properties of coal gangue, optimized proportion of materials, backfilling system and craft in the SCM were studied in the laboratory and then an industrial test was carried out on high quality coal pillars under a town. The results show that finely crushed kaolinized and fresh gangue with granularity less than 5 mm can be used as aggregate with fly ash to replace part of the cement and a composite water reducer as an additive, accounting for 1.0%-1.5% of the total amount of cement and fly ash. The recommended proportion is l（cement）：4（fly ash）： 15（coal gangue）, with a mass fraction of 72%-75%, rheoiogical paste-like properties and a strength of more than 0.7 MPa at 7 d. The sequence of adding cement, fly ash, water reducer and then coal gangue ensures that the suspended state of the slurry, reducing the wear and jam of pipelines. The working face is advancing continuously by the alternating craft of building block walls with coal gangue and backfilling mined-out gobs with paste-like slurry. The recovery rate is as high as 90% with a backfilling cost of 36.9 YuarffL good utilization of coal gangue and no subsidence on the surface. This technology provides a good theoretical basis and application experience for coal mines, cement backfilling with paste-like slurry.

Character of the Si and Al Phases in Coal Gangue and Its Ash

Analysis of the Si and AI phases in coal gangue fuel and its ash is important for use of coal gangue ashes. A comprehensive study by theoretical and experimental analyses with differential thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction and Infrared Spectroscopy has been made in the present article to explore the diagram of the Si and Al phases in coal gangue fuel and its ashes. It is found that kaolinite and quartz are the main phases in coal gangue fuel. The ratio of moles A1203 to SiO2 （i.e., Al2O3 （mole） / SiO2 （mole）） is usually no more than 0.5 in most coal gangue fuel and its ashes. The kaolinit at about 984℃ releases a large quantity of SiO2, which makes calcine coal gangue more active than coal gangue itself. The relationship between the ratio A1203 （mole）]SiO2（mole）and the components of coal gangue ash is analyzed, resulting in a formula to calculate the quantity of each phase. Applying the formula to the testing samples from an electric plant in north China supports the above conclusions.