Potential of pulsed water jets for cutting and fracturing of hard rock formations
Titel:
Potential of pulsed water jets for cutting and fracturing of hard rock formations
Auteur:
Vijay, M. M. Remisz, J. Shen, X.
Verschenen in:
International journal of mining, reclamation and environment
Paginering:
Jaargang 7 (1993) nr. 3 pagina's 121-132
Jaar:
1993
Inhoud:
Significant experimental results on cutting and fracturing of hard ore-bearing and non-ore-bearing rocks with pulsed (interrupted) water jets are presented. The main purpose of the experimental work was to investigate the potential of pulsed water jets for enhancing the productivity, safety and the operating environment of continuous mining, tunnel boring or any other type of mechanical cutting machines currently in use. For the purpose of this paper, the term “pulse” is used in a generic sense to describe any type of pulsed water jet, viz., large single pulse (water gun or cannon) or, high frequency (>> 1 Hz) interrupted, percussive or droplet laden water jets. A search of the literature and practical considerations indicated that the water gun is not suitable, for instance, for incorporation into continuous mining machines. In order to assess the potential of the high frequency pulsed jets for fragmentation, attention was focused on the interrupted jets generated by a perforated rotating disc placed downstream of a stationary nozzle. Experimental work was conducted on three types of hard rocks supplied by Canadian mining companies. The paper includes: (i) a brief discussion of the characteristics of pulsed jets, (ii) sample experimental and visualization results and (iii) recommendations for future work.