Rheological characteristics of mixed kaolin–sand slurry,impacts of pH,temperature, solid concentration and kaolin–sand mixing ratio

Significant amount of slurry waste is produced from mineral processing plants globally constituting high levels of both kaolin and sand in aqueous suspension. Large quantities of slurry and mine tailings require efficient handling, transportation and storage system. The transportation and treatment of kaolin–sand slurry is dependent on its rheological behaviour which is a function of temperature, total solid concentration and pH. In this study, the effects of total solid concentration, pH and temperature on rheological behaviour of kaolin–sand mixture were investigated. These parameters were varied to analyse the viscosity, yield stress, flow index and shear force requirements of the mixed kaolin–sand suspension as a function of these varying parameters. Experimental rheological investigation conducted on rotational stress-controlled rheometer equipped with Peltier concentric cylinder system showed that the kaolin–sand mixture suspension is shear thickening in nature. The shear stress-rate rheograms for the kaolin–sand suspension can be modelled by the Herschel–Bulkley model with high levels of accuracy for pH range of 4–11, temperature range of 20–50 °C and solid concentration of 5–50 %. Solid concentration of the suspension was found to significantly affect the rheological behaviour of the mixture where higher kaolin–sand slurry concentration resulted in greater viscosity and the trend becoming less predictable for solid concentration greater than 50 % by weight. pH was another factor affecting the rheological behaviour of kaolin–sand slurry. pH of 3 or less resulted in the dramatic increase of viscosity of the suspension possibly due to the isoelectric point of the mixture system found between pH of 3 and 4.     

A review of: “Geothermal systems”

Abstract

By John W. Elder. Academic Press, 1981. 508 pp. ($20.60) (ISBN 0 12 236450.3).     

Excess heat capacity and entropy of mixing in the high-structural state (K,Ca)-feldspar binary

Low- and high-temperature heat capacities were measured for a series of synthetic high-structural state (K,Ca)-feldspars (Or–An) using both a relaxation and a differential scanning calorimeter. The data were collected at temperatures between 5 and 800 K on polycrystalline samples that had been synthesised and characterised in a previous study. Below T = 300 K, Or₉₀An₁₀, and Or₈₀An₂₀ showed excess heat capacities of mixing with maximum values of ~3 J mol⁻¹ K⁻¹. The other members of this binary (An > 20 mol%) had lower excess heat capacity values of up to ~1 J mol⁻¹ K⁻¹. Above T = 300 K, some compositions exhibited negative excess heat capacities of mixing (with maximum values of −2 J mol⁻¹ K⁻¹). The vibrational entropy at 298.15 K for Or₉₀An₁₀ and Or₈₀An₂₀ deviated strongly from the behaviour of a mechanical mixture, with excess entropy values of ~3.5 J mol⁻¹ K⁻¹. More An-rich members had only small excess vibrational entropies at T = 298.15 K. The difference in behaviour between members with An > 20 mol% and those with An ≤ 20 mol% is probably a consequence of the structural state of the (K,Ca)-feldspars, i.e., (K,Ca)-feldspars with An ≤ 20 mol% have monoclinic symmetry, whereas those with An > 20 mol% are triclinic. At T = 800 K, the vibrational entropy values were found to scatter around the values expected for a mechanical mixture and, thus, correspond to a quasi-ideal behaviour. The solvus for the (K,Ca)-feldspar binary was calculated based on the entropy data from this study in combination with enthalpy and volume of mixing data from a previous study.     

A ternary feldspar-mixing model based on calorimetric data: development and application

A mixing model for high structural state ternary feldspars in the NaAlSi₃O₈–KAlSi₃O₈–CaAl₂Si₂O₈ system is presented based exclusively on calorimetric and volumetric measurements. Comparisons with existing mixing models, which are based on phase-equilibrium experiments, reveal distinct differences. The incorporation of K into Ca-rich plagioclase and of Ca into K-rich alkali feldspar is more strongly limited by our calorimetry-based model, whereas the stability field of Na-rich feldspars is broadened. Natural feldspar assemblages from well-studied magmatic and high-grade metamorphic rocks (i.e. a teschenite sill in Scotland, the Klokken syenogabbro in Greenland, and a granulite-facies metapelite in Sri Lanka) were used to test the mixing models. It was found that the new model largely eliminates discrepancies between observed and predicted feldspar compositions that were present in earlier attempts. The reasons for the problems associated with phase-equilibrium based mixing models are discussed.     

Fish physiology and ecology: the contribution of the Leigh Laboratory to the collision of paradigms

Abstract

The often pragmatic division of studies of function (physiology), and the regulation of distribution and abundance of organisms (ecology), as laboratory and field studies respectively, can create an unhelpful intellectual division that runs the risk of ignoring the interaction of physiology, behaviour and environment that regulates the lives of animals in the wild. This review examines the historical and current contribution of ecophysiological research conducted from the University of Auckland's Leigh Laboratory in bridging these paradigms, and generating new insights into animal function and community organisation. The assessment focuses on endocrine control processes, and metabolic and behavioural responses of fish to artificial and natural stressors, and examines tracks of future research needed to underpin understanding of likely effects of predicted environmental change on individuals and populations.     

The L3–6 chondritic regolith breccia Northwest Africa (NWA) 869: (I) Petrology,chemistry, oxygen isotopes,and Ar‐Ar age determinations

Abstract– Northwest Africa (NWA) 869 consists of thousands of individual stones with an estimated total weight of about 7 metric tons. It is an L3–6 chondrite and probably represents the largest sample of the rare regolith breccias from the L–chondrite asteroid. It contains unequilibrated and equilibrated chondrite clasts, some of which display shock‐darkening. Impact melt rocks (IMRs), both clast‐free and clast‐poor, are strongly depleted in Fe,Ni metal, and sulfides. An unequilibrated microbreccia, two different light inclusions and two different SiO₂‐bearing objects were found. Although the matrix of this breccia appears partly clastic, it is not a simple mixture of fine‐grained debris formed from the above lithologies, but mainly represents an additional specific lithology of low petrologic type. We speculate that this material stems from a region of the parent body that was only weakly consolidated. One IMR clast and one SiO₂‐bearing object show Δ¹⁷O values similar to bulk NWA 869, suggesting that both are related to the host rock. In contrast, one light inclusion and one IMR clast appear to be unrelated to NWA 869, suggesting that the IMR clast is contaminated with impactor material. ⁴⁰Ar‐³⁹Ar analyses of a type 4 chondrite clast yield a plateau age of 4402 ± 7 Ma, which is interpreted to be the result of impact heating. Other impact events are recorded by an IMR clast at 1790 ± 36 Ma and a shock‐darkened clast at 2216 ± 40 Ma, demonstrating that NWA 869 escaped major reset in the course of the event at approximately 470 Ma that affected many L–chondrites.     

Analytical two-dimensional model of a quadrupole magnetosphere

A model of a quadrupole magnetosphere is developed with the aid of conformal mappings. Such a type of magnetosphere might have occurred at the Earth during times of polarity reversals of the dipole field, when the residual field essentially may have had a quadrupole structure. The magnetospheric field-line configuration is calculated for an axial quadrupole directed perpendicular to the solar-wind flow. The model is two-dimensional and leads to analytical formulae.