Integrity of Tailings Infrastructure and Information Management: A GIS-Based Conceptual Model

Managing the integrity of tailings infrastructure is an important aspect of handling mine tailings. Unfortunately, little research is directed towards its efficient modeling. This paper presents salient aspects of tailings management. It proposes an integrated geographic information systems (GIS)-based conceptual model for efficient handling of these aspects. The paper also discusses the various integrated modules and comments on the systematic implementation of the model to achieve desired results. The modules include: structural integrity management (SIM), release impact assessment (RIA), and hazardous risk assessment and control (HRAC).     

航班起飞过程的风险识别与控制

飞机起飞阶段是事故多发阶段,为了进行风险识别与控制,设计了定性判别方法和定量计算仿真算法,并以具体飞机坠毁事故为例分析了安全裕度.分别计算了飞机冲出跑道的速度、距离和逃生时间.中断起飞的速度与时间,是火灾发生后的判断关键,也构成了飞机起飞事故的裕度.结果表明,中断起飞的安全裕度比坠毁的大,且关于中断起飞的规定有矛盾之处;用于逃生的90 s规则高于中断起飞的决断速度的限制规定.该分析方法为处理危急时刻的两难决策问题提供了理论指导.     

基于灰建模的瓦斯含量多变量预测模型研究

研究了GM(1,N)、GM(0,N)瓦斯含量预测模型的数学原理,收集郑煤集团告成矿地质勘探期间及生产期间的瓦斯含量实测资料,获得16个可靠点,选取基岩厚度、新生界厚度、煤层厚度、煤层水分、煤层灰分、50m顶板含砂率6个因素作灰色建模预测的指标,分别建立了GM(1,6)和GM(0,6)瓦斯含量多变量预测模型。根据计算和评价结果,GM(1,6)和GM(0,6)瓦斯含量预测模型精度均能够满足工程精度的要求,说明利用灰色模型来预测瓦斯含量是可行的。由于前者精度略高于后者,故建议告成矿采用GM(1,6)模型来进行未知地区煤层瓦斯含量的预测。需要注意,由于模型没有考虑构造的影响,在实际预测时,还应根据构造对待预测区的影响关系和影响程度对模型的预测结果进行修正。     

基于OSHMS的煤矿模糊综合安全评价管理模型的建立

针对目前我国煤矿企业安全管理现状,以一种全新的思路结合职业安全健康管理体系(OSHMS)的系统化体系结构及其先进之处,以预防为主,持续改进为动力,建立了基于生产过程的绩效测量、人员职责分配、运行控制和风险管理为核心的4个主要因素的安全评价管理模型;并以此为指导建立安全评价指标体系框架,运用模糊综合安全评价的方法对指标体系进行合成;最后,结合矿井生产过程中的供电系统,对淮南潘三矿现场进行实例应用,证明其可行性。该管理模型对煤矿企业安全管理有推广和借鉴意义,可望为煤矿企业通过安全管理实现科技兴安提供一种更可靠,更有效的安全管理方法。     

Assisting Australian indigenous resource management and sustainable utilization of species through the use of GIS and environmental modeling techniques

Information on distribution and relative abundance of species is integral to sustainable management, especially if they are to be harvested for subsistence or commerce. In northern Australia, natural landscapes are vast, centers of population few, access is difficult, and Aboriginal resource centers and communities have limited funds and infrastructure. Consequently defining distribution and relative abundance by comprehensive ground survey is difficult and expensive. This highlights the need for simple, cheap, automated methodologies to predict the distribution of species in use, or having potential for use, in commercial enterprise. The technique applied here uses a Geographic Information System (GIS) to make predictions of probability of occurrence using an inductive modeling technique based on Bayes' theorem. The study area is in the Maningrida region, central Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory, Australia. The species examined, Cycas arnhemica and Brachychiton diversifolius, are currently being 'wild harvested' in commercial trials, involving sale of decorative plants and use as carving wood, respectively. This study involved limited and relatively simple ground surveys requiring approximately 7 days of effort for each species. The overall model performance was evaluated using Cohen's kappa statistics. The predictive ability of the model for C. arnhemica was classified as moderate and for B. diversifolius as fair. The difference in model performance can be attributed to the pattern of distribution of these species. C. arnhemica tends to occur in a clumped distribution due to relatively short distance dispersal of its large seeds and vegetative growth from long-lived rhizomes, while B. diversifolius seeds are smaller and more widely dispersed across the landscape. The output from analysis predicts trends in species distribution that are consistent with independent on-site sampling for each species and therefore should prove useful in gauging the extent of resource availability. However, some caution needs to be applied as the models tend to over predict presence which is a function of distribution patterns and of other variables operating in the landscape such as fire histories which were not included in the model due to limited availability of data.     

Wayfinding with a GPS-based mobile navigation system: A comparison with maps and direct experience

This study examined the effectiveness of a Global Positioning System (GPS)-based mobile navigation system in comparison to paper maps and direct experience of routes, by focusing on the user's wayfinding behavior and acquired spatial knowledge. Based on information received from one of these three media, participants walked six routes finding the way to goals. Results showed that GPS users traveled longer distances and made more stops during the walk than map users and direct-experience participants. Also, GPS users traveled more slowly, made larger direction errors, drew sketch maps with poorer topological accuracy, and rated wayfinding tasks as more difficult than direct-experience participants. Characteristics of navigation with these three learning media and possible reasons for the ineffectiveness of the GPS-based navigation system are discussed.     

Comparison of models of simazine transport and fate in the subsurface environment in a citrus farm

Contamination of groundwater by agrochemicals is now widely recognized as an extremely important environmental problem. Modern agricultural practices involve the combined use of irrigation with the application of large amounts of agrochemicals to maximize crop yield. Due to flood irrigation and natural runoff, agricultural activities might generate soil, surface water and groundwater contamination problems and leaching of pesticides. Modeling of the transport and fate of pesticides, such as simazine, may help understand the long-term potential risk to the subsurface environment. This paper illustrates a comparative study via the use of three different pesticide transport simulation models and the applicability of those models in determining the groundwater vulnerability to pesticides contamination in a citrus orchard located at the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV). The three models used in the study are the pesticide root zone model-3 (PRZM-3), the pesticide analytical model (PESTAN) and integrated pesticide transport modeling (IPTM). The concentration values obtained from all three models are in agreement, and they show a decreasing trend from the surface through the vadose zone. The problem is how to use this information and, specifically, how to combine the testimony of a number of experts into a single useful judgment. With the aid of the fuzzy multiattribute decision making method, PRZM-3 is deemed as the most promising one for such precision farming applications.     

Kinetic extractions to assess mobilization of Zn, Pb, Cu, and Cd in a metal-contaminated soil: EDTA vs. citrate

Kinetic EDTA and citrate extractions were used to mimic metal mobilization in a soil contaminated by metallurgical fallout. Modeling of metal removal rates vs. time distinguished two metal pools: readily labile (QM1) and less labile (QM2). In citrate extractions, total extractability (QM1+QM2) of Zn and Cd was proportionally higher than for Pb and Cu. Proportions of Pb and Cu extracted with EDTA were three times higher than when using citrate. We observed similar QM1/QM2 ratios for Zn and Cu regardless of the extractant, suggesting comparable binding energies to soil constituents. However, for Pb and Cd, more heterogeneous binding energies were hypothesized to explain different kinetic extraction behaviors. Proportions of citrate-labile metals were found consistent with their short-term, in-situ mobility assessed in the studied soil, i.e., metal amount released in the soil solution or extracted by cultivated plants. Kinetic EDTA extractions were hypothesized to be more predictive for long-term metal migration with depth.     

Lysimeter Experiments to Investigate the Fate of Chemicals in Soils – Comparison of Five Different Lysimeter Systems

Several lysimeter scenarios and approaches exist to study the fate of agro-chemicals or contaminants from deposition in soil columns. In many systems just transport and leaching of the parent compound is followed, in some systems the leaching and transport of the metabolites is investigated as well. In more sophisticated lysimeter systems the volatilization and also the mineralization of the applied chemicals can be additionally monitored. Depending on the lysimeter system used and on the fact whether the applied chemicals are ¹⁴C-labeled or not, different results and various interpretations of the results might be achieved. Different lysimeter systems are described in this paper and a real dataset of a specific lysimeter experiment was transferred and evaluated in a virtual approach in the different lysimeter systems in order to show the advantages and disadvantages of the various systems.     

Leaching behavior of heavy metals from municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash and its geochemical modeling

With the increase in the number of municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) plants constructed in China recently, great attention has been paid to the heavy metal leaching toxicity of MSWI residues. In this study, the effects of various parameters, including extractant, leaching time, liquid-to-solid ratio, leachate pH, and heavy metal content, on the release properties of Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn from MSWI bottom ash were investigated. Partial least-squares analysis was employed to highlight the interrelationships between the factors and response variables. Both experimental research and geochemical modeling using Visual MINTEQ software were conducted to study the pH-dependent leaching behavior of these metals in fresh and weathered bottom ash, considering precipitation/dissolution and surface complexation reactions (adsorption by hydrous ferric oxide and amorphous aluminum oxide/hydroxide). The results showed that leachate pH was the predominant factor influencing heavy metal leachability. The leaching of Cu, Pb, and Zn was mainly controlled by precipitation/dissolution reactions, whereas surface complexation had some effect on the leaching of Cr, Cd, and Ni for certain pH ranges. The modeling results aggreed well with the experimental results. Part of this work was presented at the Fourth International Conference on Combustion, Incineration/Pyrolysis and Emission Control (i-CIPEC)