Statistical approach to determination of overhaul and maintenance cost of loading equipment in surface mining

The purpose of this research was to develop a new approach in determination of overhaul and maintenance cost of loading equipment in surface mining. Two statistical models including univariate exponential regression (UER) and multivariate linear regression (MLR) were used in this study. Loading equipment parameters such as bucket capacity, machine weight, engine power, boom length, digging depth, and dumping height were considered as variables. The results obtained by models and mean absolute error rate indicate that these models can be applied as the useful tool in determination of overhaul and maintenance cost of loading equipment. The results of this study can be used by the decision-makers for the specific surface mining operations.

Pollution control of outfall of rainwater-sewage confluence in old town

In order to improve water quality of middle ancient canal in Zhenjiang city a pollution control project was carried out.The research area is the middle catchment area of the ancient canal river system in the old town of Zhenjiang. The specific research object is the runoff of the outfall of rainwater-sewage confluence in the area. On the basis of detecting and analyzing the water yield and water quality of the runoff of rainwater-sewage confluence a combined technology which contains four independent continuous processes for lowering pollution load was developed and system equipment was established and put into operation. The processing effects of the project were monitored and analyzed.The results show that the pollution control project of outfall runoff is efficient which decreases the pollution load including chemical oxygen demand COD total phosphorus TP suspended solids SS and ammonia-nitrogen NH3-N .As a result the water environment of the ancient canal is protected.

Sources of variability in laboratory rock test results

Appropriate rock characterization is beneficial in providing a reliable judgment on rock properties which is crucial for the design process of rock engineering applications.However,it can be difficult to obtain consistent mechanical parameters due to substantial variations in rock properties.In this research,uniaxial compression tests on dolerite specimens collected from a gold mine in Western Australia showed substantial scatter in the results.Rock categorization based on the P-wave velocities is as accurate as the thin section analysis,which suggests that they can be used together to gain a more accurate initial understanding of the rock types before any laboratory testing.The quality of specimen preparation and rockemachine interaction greatly affect the test results.For instance,non-parallelness of loading platens can lead to considerable scatter of the testing results,which would be perceived as rock variability.It is suggested that the current testing standards should be modified towards a better control of the loading machine performance and equipment precision.Finally,the possibility of pre-existing microcracks in rock,neither detected by the thin section analysis nor by the ultrasonic measurement,must be examined by computed tomography(CT)scanning as they can affect the test results.This study will enhance our knowledge about the sources of variability in laboratory test results of rock which is essential for obtaining reliable data.