Dust control reagents for haul roads in open pit mining operations

CHED 360

Kaveh Zarrabi, kaveh_zarrabi@ccsn.edu1, Keri Campbell1, Freddie Martinez1, Samin Mehrabi1, Navid Mojtabai2, Anthony Oduro-Darkwa2, and Susan LeStrange, kinetixinc@cox.net3. (1) Department of Physical Sciences, Community College of Southern Nevada, 6375 West Charleston Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89146-1164, (2) Mineral Engineering Department, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM, (3) Kinetix, Inc, 1930 Village Center Circle, Suite 3-157, Las Vegas, NV 89134
The main sources of dust in mining applications are haul roads and dried tailing impoundments. Our goal in this study is to produce a safe and effective dust control reagent fit for active desert soils, which will dramatically reduce generation of air born dust particles.

In this study various combinations of polymers with a number of Lewis acids and surfactants are evaluated to formulate dust control cocktails for use in surface mining operations. The criteria to be used in evaluation of these mixtures are effectiveness, cost, durability, and ease of application. The efficiency of the dust control reagents will be tested by applying the reagents to small-scale soil samples, placing the treated soil samples in the wind tunnel, and collecting dust generated while the samples are in the wind tunnel. Upon completion of these tests, selected dust control reagents will be tested in the field during actual mining operations.

 

Undergraduate Research Poster Session: Polymer Chemistry
2:30 PM-4:30 PM, Monday, 11 September 2006 Moscone Center -- Hall D, Poster

Division of Chemical Education

The 232nd ACS National Meeting, San Francisco, CA, September 10-14, 2006