Investigation of Cycle Time Segments of Dragline Operation in Surface Coal Mine: A Statistical Approach

Dragline is highly capital intensive equipment to procure, operate and maintain in any surface mining operation. Given this, every second of operation of this capital intensive equipment is absolutely important. Improvement of even a single second in the total cycle time has a tremendous bearing on the overall performance of this equipment. In this light, the present paper is an endeavour to critically analyze the cycle time of dragline operations in a major surface coal mine in India. Rigorous statistical analysis has been performed on individual cycle time segments, of complete dragline cycle. The segmental cycle times have been found to be statistically significant and appear to be best represented by lognormal, normal and beta distributions. Furthermore, the mean time of the statistical distribution for segmental cycle time of dragline has revealed the dependence of cycle time on cut geometry and depth. Results have been illustrated in the form of figures, graphs and tables.     

Effects of linear and exponential heterogeneity on the dynamic response of a moving load in an irregular isotropic half-space: a comparative study

Heterogeneity, being a trivial feature inside the earth or in a geostructure, makes a strong basis for its consideration in the study of geomechanics. Inclusion of the concept of heterogeneity along with irregularity in the medium brings a novelty to the existing literature related to the study of the moving load. The present study investigates the effects of linear and exponential heterogeneity on the dynamic response due to a normal load moving with constant velocity on a rough irregular heterogeneous isotropic half-space in a comparative approach. Expressions for both normal and shear stresses for either case of heterogeneity have been established in closed form. Substantial effects of the affecting parameters such as depth, irregularity factor, maximum depth of irregularity, frictional coefficient, linear heterogeneity parameter and exponential heterogeneity parameter on normal and shear stresses for both the cases of heterogeneity have been observed. Numerical computation has been carried out and the effects of said parameters have been meticulously examined by means of graphs. Moreover, different cases of heterogeneity and homogeneity along with various types of irregularity namely rectangular, parabolic and no irregularity are compared which serve as a focal theme of the study.     

Influence of varying nitrogen levels on lipid accumulation in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Chlorella</Emphasis> sp.

Microalgal lipids can be enhanced through varying nitrogen (N) content, and limited supply of nitrogen source seems to be valuable approach for increased lipid accumulation in microalgae. In this study, Chlorella sp. IM-02 was observed under fluorescence microscope for increased number of lipid bodies under nitrogen scarcity. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used to determine spectral changes due to varying lipid content under nitrogen-starved (N₀, without sodium nitrate), nitrogen-limited (N_0.1, N_0.25, N_0.5 and N_1.0 representing 0.1, 0.25, 0.5 and 1.0 g/L of sodium nitrate, respectively) and nitrogen-sufficient (N_1.5, i.e., 1.5 g/L sodium nitrate) setting. Chlorophyll content was also monitored under these conditions as growth indicator. Various biochemical components viz. total carbohydrates, total proteins and total lipids were also estimated under varying nitrogen levels spectrophotometrically. On fourth day itself, maximum lipid productivity was observed in case of N_0.5, which is having one-third of nitrogen concentration present in original growth media, BG-11. This concludes N_0.5 as suitable nitrogen provision for better production of lipids in Chlorella sp. IM-02 without much compromising the biomass production as both growth and lipid quantity are key parameters affecting the lipid productivity of any microalgal strain.