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USGS · 70019738

Onset of thermally induced gas convection in mine wastes

Abstract

A mine waste dump in which active oxidation of pyritic materials occurs can generate a large amount of heat to form convection cells. We analyze the onset of thermal convection in a two-dimensional, infinite horizontal layer of waste rock filled with moist gas, with the top surface of the waste dump open to the atmosphere and the bedrock beneath the waste dump forming a horizontal and impermeable boundary. Our analysis shows that the thermal regime of a waste rock system depends heavily on the atmospheric temperature, the strength of the heat source and the vapor pressure.

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BibTeXRIS

N. Lu, Y. Zhang. 1997. Onset of thermally induced gas convection in mine wastes. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0017-9310(96)00281-5

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Heating of a fully saturated Darcian half-space: Pressure generation, fluid expulsion, and phase change

Analytical solutions are developed for the pressurization, expansion, and flow of one- and two-phase liquids during heating of fully saturated and hydraulically open Darcian half-spaces subjected to a step rise in temperature at its surface. For silicate materials, advective transfer is commonly unimportant in the liquid region; this is not always the case in the vapor region. Volume change is commonly more important than heat of vaporization in determining the position of the liquid-vapor interface, assuring that the temperatures cannot be determined independently of pressures. Pressure increases reach a maximum near the leading edge of the thermal front and penetrate well into the isothermal region of the body. Mass flux is insensitive to the hydraulic properties of the half-space.

International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer↗