Mohan Yellishetty

Application of soft computing to predict blast-induced ground vibration

In this study, an attempt has been made to evaluate and predict the blast-induced ground vibration by incorporating explosive charge per delay and distance from the blast face to the monitoring point using artificial neural network (ANN) technique. A three-layer feed-forward back-propagation neural network with 2-5-1 architecture was trained and tested using 130 experimental and monitored blast records from the surface coal mines of Singareni Collieries Company Limited, Kothagudem, Andhra Pradesh, India. Twenty new blast data sets were used for the validation and comparison of the peak particle velocity (PPV) by ANN and conventional vibration predictors. Results were compared based on coefficient of determination and mean absolute error between monitored and predicted values of PPV.

Prediction of soil erosion from waste dumps of opencast mines and evaluation of their impacts on the environment

The volume of mine waste rock generated, including tailings from mineral processing activities, is one of the main pollution concerns in the mining industry in general. In the State of Goa (India), the waste rock management is becoming increasingly difficult due to acute space shortage consequent to expanding mining activities. These waste rocks contain acid producing sulphides and high concentrations of heavy metals. In the Goa region, the agricultural fields, nallahs, river beds and creeks are prone to heavy siltation/sediment deposition, which results from soil erosion due to the heavy rainfall this region receives. In view of this erosion and consequent degradation of surrounding environment, this article seeks to estimate the amounts of soil erosion from mine waste rock dumps using the RUSLE model and evaluates the impacts of erosion on the local environment. Based on data interpretation and RUSLE analysis, the trends in soil loss were established under various geo-environmental conditions, such as different slope angles and lengths. This provides a sound basis to plan and implement sound environmental management practices for mine waste rock in the mines of Goa, India.

Projection of Iron Ore Production

A comprehensive country-by-country projection of world iron ore production is presented along with alternative scenarios and a sensitivity analysis. The supply-driven modelling approach follows Mohr (Projection of world fossil fuel production with supply and demand interactions, PhD Thesis, http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6782, 2010) using an ultimately recoverable resource of 346 Gt of iron ore. Production is estimated to have a choppy plateau starting in 2017 until 2050 after which production rapidly declines. The undulating plateau is due to Chinese iron ore production peaking earlier followed by Australia and Brazil in turn. Alternative scenarios indicate that the model is sensitive to increases in Australian and Brazilian resources, and that African iron ore production can shift the peak date only if the African Ultimately Recoverable Resources (URR) is 5 times larger than the estimate used. Changes to the demand for iron ore driven by substitution or recycling are not modelled. The relatively near-term peak in iron ore supply is likely to create a global challenge to manufacturing and construction and ultimately the world economy.

Issues and Challenges in Life Cycle Assessment in the Minerals and Metals Sector: A Chance to Improve Raw Materials Efficiency

A critical review was conducted on existing literature concerning life cycle assessment (LCA) and its application to the minerals and metals sector. This extensive literature search uncovers many of the issues that require immediate attention from the scientific community involved with LCA. The methodological drawbacks, mainly problems with inconsistencies in LCA results for the same situation under different assumptions and issues related to data quality, are considered to be the current shortcomings of LCA. In the minerals and metals sector, it is important to increase the objectivity of LCA by way of estimating and reporting those uncertainties; for example, whether land use has to be considered in detail or at a rough level. In regard to abiotic resource characterisation, the weight and time scales to be considered become a very critical issue of judgement. How the temporal and spatial dimensions should be incorporated into LCA is one of the biggest challenges ahead for those who are concerned. Addressing these issues will enable LCA to be used as a policy tool in environmental decision making. There has been enormous unresolved debate with respect to land use impacts, abiotic resource depletion, allocation procedure open-loop recycling and spatial and temporal dimensions. An example case has been presented for Australian iron ore using SimaPro software based on published inventory data to demonstrate that uniformity is required. Discussions aimed at bringing consensus amongst all the stakeholders involved in LCA (i.e. industry, academia, consulting organisations and government) have been presented. In addition, a commentary of different points of view on these issues has been provided. This review brings into perspective some of those contentious issues that are widely debated by many researchers. Finally, the authors conclude with their views on the prospects of LCA for future research endeavours.

Measurement of Bulk volume and Density of Irregular Solid Samples by Sand Displacement Method

In civil and mining engineering applications, it is often important to know the bulk volume of samples in order to calculate the various other geotechnical parameters. There are a number of standard methods developed that use volume to estimate the sample’s dry density (ASTM_D503

The Application of Flipped Classroom in Teaching University Students: A Case Study From Vietnam

Flippedclassroomshavebeenextensivelyusedbymanyeducatorsallovertheworldandarebeing seenasanalternativetothetraditionalclassroom-basedteaching-learningpractices.Asfortraditional classrooms, face-to-face learning has not brought the personalization of learning capacity, time, attitude,behaviorandintereststolearnersandhasnotexposedthemtoexperimentalactivities.The flippedclassrooms,ontheotherhand,enablestudentstobeflexibleintheirlearningandoffermore timetogothroughvideos,lecturespostedontheInternet,whichhelpsstudentstoacquirethelessons throughonlinelearningsystems.Flippedclassroomshelpcreateenvironmentformoreinteraction betweenlearnersandinstructors/facilitators,especiallybycreatingtheface-to-faceconversationsmore interactive.However,teachingusingflippedclassroomsrequiresadequateadditionalresourcessuch as;theeffectiveonlinelearningsystems,databases,appropriatelearningcontentsandmethods,plan, presentations(invariousformslikePowerPoint,word,scrom,video,audio)andmostimportantly minimumtechnicalknowledgeforbothlearnersandinstructorstousevarietiesoftools.Thispaper presentstheconstructionofanenvironmentsupportingstudentstotakepartinanonlineactivity beforeandafterface-to-faceinteractionandorganizationofexperimentalteachingwiththeprocess of learningingroupsbasedonthemodelofflippedclassroomstofacilitateactivelearning.The quantitativeresultsattheendofthecourseshowedthattheflippedlearningishighlypreferredand usefulpedagogicalapproachwhencomparedtothosetraditionalmethodsthatfosteredbetterlearning attitudeandbehaviors. KEywoRdS Blended Learning, Face to Face, Flipped Classroom, Online Learning System

Classification of Stability of Highwall During Highwall Mining: A Statistical Adaptive Learning Approach

AbstractThe depleting coal deposits day by day required the introduction of novel methods of mining like highwall mining. Highwall mining is a method of extraction of coal blocked in the highwall. The method involves considerable challenges in the area of roof control and most importantly the stability of the highwall itself. Highwall mining has gained considerable importance all over the world, owing to the fact that the coal otherwise would not be extracted forever. This paper aims to assess the influence of varying conditions which can affect the stability of the highwall during highwall mining. The effect of gallery length, width of pillar and number of galleries are systematically studied through field investigations where a highwall mining was adopted first time in India. Initially, assessment was carried out using a numerical modelling approach and then the stability of the highwall is classified using multilinear regression, logistic regression and naive Bayes classifier. This will provide a mechanism to predict the stability of the highwall in future cases of similar conditions. The classification is done using statistical adaptive learning methods and a comparison of the methods is done.

Geotechnical and Hydrogeological Evaluation of Artificial Soils to Remediate Acid Mine Drainage and Improve Mine Rehabilitation - An Australian Case Study

This project investigates the feasibility of combining overburden (OB) produced from an open cut brown coal mine, rejected wood chip waste from a Kraft Paper Mill (KMR), and industrially derived compost. The outcome is an artificial soil that mitigates Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) and enhances soil heath and suitability for rehabilitation. The three separate industries are local to each other, facilitating economical transportation of waste streams.