Preventing and analysis of falling rocks: A case of Sarica village (Gürün,Turkey)

Rock fall is a common natural hazard causing significant damage to infrastructure and loss of life and property. This paper describes selection of prevention method, construction processes and the results of a rockfall hazard assessment for the village of Sarica (Gürün region, Turkey) based on an engineering-geological model. The study area is located on the lower parts of an area with very steep cliffs and 40-50⁰ slopes with fractured sedimentary and volcanic rocks. Detailed studies have been conducted in the region to prevent the risk of any rockfalls. Maps and charts are prepared including the rock blocks that are likely to fall and the related housing area under the risk. It was found that block sizes reached 3 m³. Rockfall analyses were performed along the selected profiles using the Rocfall V.5.0 software. Kinetic energy, bounce height, horizontal location of rock end-points and velocity of the rocks along each section were evaluated separately for each profile. This data was used to select design and construction of rockfall preventing system. In this study professional type rock fall barrier (catchment fence) was used. This method was chosen because it was cheaper, more practical and reliable than others.     

3D geostatistical modelling and uncertainty analysis of clay minerals distribution in reservoir rocks

Drilling through shale layers is associated with many problems such as wellbore instability, hole wash out, pipe stuck, etc. Reactive shale with swelling potential can lead to such problems. Reactive shale is a shale that has high swelling clay mineral like montmorillonite although there was a little amount of this clay mineral. So determine the type of clay mineral in shale formation and obtain the distribution of swellable clay mineral can help us in the selection of stable well path and determination of well location that has least instability problem, prevention and prediction of problem associated with swelling clay mineral such as pipe stuck, hole wash out, bit balling, etc. In this paper, we used thorium and potassium from corrected gamma ray (CGR) log to obtain the type and percentage of clay mineral. Then used X-ray diffraction for more detail analysis of clay mineral constitute. Finally, geostatistical modelling is used to obtain the continuity of clay mineral in the reservoir and estimate the amount of desire clay mineral along the reservoir.     

Mineralization of organic matter from vinasse using physicochemical treatment coupled with Fe<Superscript>2+</Superscript>-activated persulfate and peroxymonosulfate oxidation

Application of advanced oxidation process for wastewater treatment has gained more attention recently. In this study, the efficiency of coagulation–flocculation pretreatment coupled with sulfate radical-based advanced oxidation process (SR-AOP) in the removal and mineralization of organic matter of sugarcane vinasse was evaluated. For coagulation–flocculation, jar-test experiment was carried out with ferric chloride as coagulant and the removal of TOC, color and UV₂₅₄ was determined. The results revealed that by using 15 g/L of coagulant, 70 % of TOC removal and nearly 100 % of UV₂₅₄ and color removal were achieved. The pretreated vinasse was then subjected to SR-AOP. In this study, sulfate radical was generated using persulfate (PS) and peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activated by Fe(II). The effect of reaction time, oxidants to Fe(II) ratio and pH on the TOC removal efficiency were investigated. For the effect of reaction time, the TOC removal was found to increase significantly for the first 5 min. TOC removal was found to increase with increasing concentration of Fe(II) for PMS. However, for Fe(II)/PS, the TOC removal efficiency was decreased with increasing Fe(II) concentration. Both Fe(II)/PMS and Fe(II)/PS showed the highest TOC removal efficiency when the oxidation was carried out at pH 7. By using the selected optimum condition, nearly 70 and 49 % of TOC removal were achieved for PMS/Fe(II) and PS/Fe(II), respectively. Therefore, it can be concluded that SR-AOP can be a promising alternative method for TOC removal from sugarcane vinasse.     

Heavy metals’ mobility from phosphate washing effluents discharged in the Gafsa area (southwestern Tunisia)

Wet processing of natural phosphate to increase the P₂O₅ content and eliminate non-desired fraction (both coarse and fine fractions) took place in various laundries of the Gafsa-phosphatic area. Effluents of those laundries often contain various contaminants that are directly discharged to the receiving waterbody, representing a serious threat to the environment. Physico-chemical characterization of those effluents showed elevated levels of sulfates, fluorine, and metals. The bordering land showed gypseous soils. Those soils are covered by the discharged phosphate-washing sludge. The effect of which on the structure and the permeability of the soils seemed to be significantly harmful. Batch tests were conducted to evaluate the mobility of various metals on the surrounding area of phosphate laundries. Leaching results revealed low cadmium and uranium mobilities. However, Cd concentrations in the studied samples leached from soils exceeded the standards. This suggested the contamination by cadmium.