Study on the kinetics of iron oxide leaching by oxalic acid

The presence of iron oxides in clay or silica raw materials is detrimental to the manufacturing of high quality ceramics. Although iron has been traditionally removed by physical mineral processing, acid washing has been tested as it is more effective, especially for extremely low iron (of less than 0.1% w/w). However, inorganic acids such as sulphuric or hydrochloric acids easily contaminate the clay products with SO₄²⁻ and Cl⁻, and therefore should be avoided as much as possible. On the other hand, if oxalic acid is used, any acid left behind will be destroyed during the firing of the ceramic products. The characteristics of dissolution of iron oxides were therefore investigated in this study.The dissolution of iron oxides in oxalic acid was found to be very slow at temperatures within the range 25–60 °C, but its rate increases rapidly above 90 °C. The dissolution rate also increases with increasing oxalate concentration at the constant pH values set within the optimum range of pH2.5–3.0. At this optimum pH, the dissolution of fine pure hematite (Fe₂O₃) (105–140 μm) follows a diffusion-controlled shrinking core model. The rate expression expressed as 1 − (2 / 3)x − (1 − x)^2 / 3 where x is a fraction of iron dissolution was found to be proportional to [oxalate]^1.5.The addition of magnetite to the leach liquor at 10% w/w hematite was found to enhance the dissolution rate dramatically. Such addition of magnetite allows coarser hematite in the range 0.5–1.4 mm to be leached at a reasonable rate.     

塔里木板块西北缘石炭纪层序地层及海平面变化探讨

塔里木板块西北缘石炭纪时期为一典型的被动大陆边缘 ,通过对本区石炭纪沉积层序及相对海平面变化研究 ,识别出不同类型的层序界面 (SB1,SB2 ) ,并据此划分了 4个二级沉积层序—超层序(Super sequence)和 8个三级沉积层序 (Sequence) ,且在区域上或全球范围内基本上可以对比。但由于所在大地构造位置不同 ,其沉积背景条件差异很大 ,因而在不同地区可以形成不同样式、不同数量的沉积层序 ,海平面变化表现形式也存在差别。     

湘东南地区震旦纪地层的新划分与区域对比

本文采用多重地层划分和构造地层法，研究并重建了湘东南地区震旦系新层序，厘定了泗洲山组、天子地组、正园岭组、埃岐岭组、丁腰河组的含义及其划分、对比标志。认为该浊积碎屑岩系中的两套砾岩，是冰成作用的产物，可与湘中、湘西乃至华南地区的震旦系对比。同时指出孩区有板溪期的沉积，并建立了青白口系大江边组。     

The vegetation damage assessment of the Wenchuan earthquake of May 2008 using remote sensing and GIS

The methodology for assessing the vegetation damaged by the Wenchuan earthquake by using the technologies of remote sensing and GIS was discussed in Dujiangyan city of Sichuan Province, China. The model of extracting vegetation from CBERS images was formulated using the differentiation knowledge of vegetation and non-vegetation discovered by image analysis and geographic analysis. The damage degree index (DDI) of the vegetation was defined here, which was the difference of the normalized difference vegetation index before the earthquake and that after earthquake. The China-Brazil Earth Resource Satellite (CBERS)-02’s images acquired, respectively, on 6 May and 27 June 2008, the model of extracting vegetation, and DDI were used to obtain the information about the area and degree of the damage vegetation in the study. There was 87.94 square kilometers vegetation damaged by Wenchuan earthquake, which accounted for 7.9% of the total area in Dujiangyan city. The area percentage of the damage vegetation in each grade related strongly and positively to the elevation grade and slope grade and weakly related to the aspect type. The distribution characteristics of the damage vegetation were useful for making plan of restoring vegetation here.     

Characteristics and circulation background of extreme precipitation over East China

Natural Hazards - Using the observed daily precipitation data across East China, this paper analyzes spatiotemporal changes of annual and seasonal extreme precipitation indices during...     

贵州凤冈县田坝村茶园土壤硒的含量及评价

运用氢化物原子荧光光谱法,较系统测定了研究区三大茶园土壤硒的含量。分析结果表明,土壤中硒的平均含量值为1.22 mg/kg,平均值均高于全国土壤硒含量（0.29 mg/kg）及贵州省土壤硒含量（0.369 mg/kg）的水平。据我国硒元素生态景观界限值的划分等级标准,研究区属于富硒的土壤环境,对当地今后种植富硒茶、调整农业种植结构、有效利用特种土地、生态环境学研究,可提供地球化学方面的基础资料和参考依据,具有重要的现实意义。     

Modeling three‐dimensional hydraulic fracture propagation using virtual multidimensional internal bonds

Propagation of fractures, especially those emanating from wellbores and closed natural fractures, often involves Mode I and Mode II, and at times Mode III, posing significant challenges to its numerical simulation. When an embedded inclined fracture is subjected to compression, the fracture edge is constrained by the surrounding materials so that its true propagation pattern cannot be simulated by 2D models. In this article, a virtual multidimensional internal bond (VMIB) model is presented to simulate three‐dimensional (3D) fracture propagation. The VMIB model bridges the processes of macro fracture and micro bond rupture. The macro 3D constitutive relation in VMIB is derived from the 1D bond in the micro scale and is implemented in a 3D finite element method. To represent the contact and friction between fracture surfaces, a 3D element partition method is employed. The model is applied to simulate fracture propagation and coalescence in typical laboratory experiments and is used to analyze the propagation of an embedded fracture. Simulation results for single and multiple fractures illustrate 3D features of the tensile and compressive fracture propagation, especially the propagation of a Mode III fracture. The results match well with the experimental observation, suggesting that the presented method can capture the main features of 3D fracture propagation and coalescence. Moreover, by developing an algorithm for applying pressure on the fracture surfaces, propagation of a natural fracture is also simulated. The result illustrates an interesting and important phenomenon of Mode III fracture propagation, namely the fracture front segmentation. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synthesis and characterisation of a multifunctional oil-based drilling fluid additive

An oil-based drilling fluid additive H-DEA (or humic acid-cocamide diethanolamine) was synthesised using humic acid and cocamide diethanolamine as raw materials. The rheological behaviors of H-DEA showed that the synthesised product has the good properties in both decreasing the filtrate loss and improving rheology property of oil-based drilling fluids compared with other commercially available additives. Under the optimal additive amount of 3%, both API filtrate loss and yield point changed remarkably from 5.40 to 0.41 mL and 9.0 to 25.6 Pa, respectively. Furthermore, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed that H-DEA has good thermal stability in a wide temperature range up to 170 °C. Infrared spectroscopy (IR) and rheological analysis revealed that the possible mechanism of the multifunctional effects may be attributed to the existing of high density of strong polar groups, hydrogen bonds, electrostatic forces, and intermolecular association on H-DEA molecular structure. The results of the study showed that the synthesised H-DEA can be potentially used as a multifunctional oil-based drilling fluid additive in oil-drilling excavation.