Study on Hydrodynamics Model of Total Tailings Filling Slurry Dehydration

In order to ensure the dehydration effect of the whole tailings backfill, a dehydration model of the whole tailings backfill was established based on hydrodynamics on the basis of satisfying certain assumptions, and the theoretical solution was carried out. The control variable method is used to study the variation of dewatering capacity with dewatering depth and radius, and the applicability of the dewatering model is verified by experiments. The results show that the dewatering capacity increases with the increase of dewatering radius and decreases with the increase of dewatering depth by a quadratic polynomial. By comparing the experimental values with the theoretical ones, it is found that the variation law of the dewatering capacity with radius is the same and increases with the increase of dewatering depth. The reason is that the content of fine particles in the unclassified tailings is large and the filter hole on the branch pipe is blocked under the action of the hydrodynamic force. Therefore, the dewatering effect of the new root-like dehydration tube can be guaranteed by using the branch pipe arranged at the full height of main dewatering pipe. The dehydration model is modified by the test results to ensure the applicability.

Rheological Parameters and Transport Characteristics of Fresh Cement Tailings Backfill Slurry in an Underground Iron Mine

Pipeline transportation is the key component of the mine filling system. In this study, fresh cement tailing backfill (CTB) slurry made by unclassified tailings from the Daye iron mine is taken as the research object, and its rheological parameters and transport characteristics are studied via laboratory test and FLUENT software. It was found that the relationship curve of the dynamic yield stress, viscosity, and solid content (SC) of CTB slurry fits the law of the H-B model when SC varies between 60% and 68%. However, the relationship curve gradually changes to fit the Bingham mode when SC reaches up to 70%. Numerical simulation results demonstrate that when the SC of CTB slurry exceeds 65%, the static pressure at the pipeline’s outlet begins to distribute symmetrically. At this point, the slurry flow state is relatively stable, and the pipeline resistance loss is positively correlated with SC and flow rate. When SC exceeds 70%, resistance loss begins to increase significantly. The findings of this study can be used to identify the suitable transportation conditions of CTB slurry and provide the theoretical direction for the pipeline transportation design of filling systems in mines.

Study on the strength property and ratio parameter selection of waste rock cemented backfill

When tailings are used for cemented backfill preparation, the extremely fine unclassified tailings may lead to slow consolidation and low strength of backfill material. Wasted rock as an additional filling aggregated was suggested to optimize the gradation composition of aggregate by scholars over the world. In this paper, the effect of waste rock addition, cement-tailing ratio and slurry concentration on strength and flow properties of waste rock cemented backfill were studied. The results indicate the strength of waste rock cemented backfill was significantly higher than that of unclassified tailings cemented backfill under same cement consumption, which the average strength improvements were 2.02MPa, 0.98MPa and 0.46MPa under cement-tailing ratio of 1:4, 1:8 and 1:10. With the increase of waste rock addition, the strength change of waste rock cemented backfill was less obvious, but the flow property (yield stress) of filling slurry was improved. Further analysis of the slurry stability illustrates that, with the increase of waste rock addition, the bleeding rate demonstrated a trend similar to that observed for the flow property, however, in an adverse manner. Overall, the optimal slurry concentration of 80% and waste rock addition of 40%～50% were determined. Based on the strength requirement, cement dosage was selected, which the cement-tailing ratio of top 10m and the bottom 10m was 1:8, the cement-tailing ratio of the centre stope was 1:10. The research findings can provide a reference for the ratio parameter determination of extremely fine unclassified tailings backfill of similar mines.

Experimental Study on Rheological Properties and Strength Variation of High Concentration Cemented Unclassified Tailings Backfill

This experimental study presents the rheological properties and strength characteristics of cemented unclassified tailings backfill (CUTB). The particle size distribution and chemical properties of tailings from the Shizhuyuan lead-zinc mine were examined experimentally. A series of rheological properties and uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) tests were conducted to study the relations between the rheological properties of CUTB and two factors of cement-tailings ratio (c/t) and solid content (SD). The two-factor nonrepetitive analysis of variance (ANOVA) method was used to study the sensitivity of rheological properties to two factors of c/t and SD. Relations between UCS performance of CUTB and c/t, SD, and curing time (CT) were discussed. Results indicate that CUTB samples exhibit obvious shear thinning characteristics and the rheological process is the result of multiple rheological model composites. Yield stress and viscosity of CUTB increase with the increase of SD and c/t as quadratic. The solid content is the most important factor for the rheological properties of CUTB, followed by c/t. UCS of CUTB increases exponentially with the increase of SD and increases with c/t as quadratic. The larger the ratio of c/t, the greater the influence of the CT on the increasing strength of CUTB. The smaller the c/t, the slower the increase of the CUTB’s strength with the increase of the SD. The findings of this study can provide the efficient mix proportion of backfill slurry for the backfill mining design, so as to have better performance of the underground mining structure and reduce the cost of backfill mining.

A Novel Prediction Model of Strength of Paste Backfill Prepared from Waste-Unclassified Tailings

Paste backfilling is an important support for the development of green mines and deep mining. It can effectively reduce a series of risks of underground goaf and surface tailings ponds. Reasonable strength of backfill is an effective guarantee for controlling ground stress and realizing safe mining function. Under the combination of complex materials and local conditions, ensuring the optimal design and effective proportion for paste backfill strength is the bottleneck problem that restricts the safety, economy, and efficiency of filling mining. The strength developing trend of paste backfilling prepared from waste rock and unclassified tailings has been studied. Different levels of cement contents, tailings-waste ratios, and slurry concentrations were investigated through orthogonal design to obtain the relationship between the UCS and the multi-influential factors. Combined with the experimental results and the previous strength prediction models, the waste rock-unclassified tailings paste strength prediction model was proposed. Introducing the water-cement ratio, the cement-tailings ratio, the amount of cement, and the packing density that characterizing the overall gradation of unclassified tailings and waste rock, as well as the curing time, a strength prediction model of multifactors was developed. Moreover, the microscopic structure of the paste prepared from waste-unclassified tailings was analyzed with an Environment Scanning Electron Microscope (ESEM), and the influence mechanism was ascertained. The weight coefficient of strength development is carded in this paper, and the strength model of unclassified tailings-waste paste considering five factors is obtained, which is of great significance to guide the mining engineering.