Engineering Commons^™

Tree-Compatible Ground Covers For Reforestation And Erosion Control, James Burger, Victor Davis, Jennifer Franklin, Carl Zipper, Jeff Skousen, Chris Barton, Patrick Angel

Jennifer Franklin

Productive native forests create economic value for landowners, produce raw materials for wood-based products, and provide benefits such as watershed control, water quality protection, carbon storage, wildlife habitat, and native plant diversity. Owners of lands mined for coal in Appalachia are increasingly interested in assuring that productive forests are restored after mining.

Sediment control is essential to coal mine reclamation under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA). Here, we describe how mining firms can achieve good tree survival and restore forest productivity by using tree-compatible ground covers, when necessary, to control erosion and meet ground cover standards.

Technical Note: A New Method For The Lagrangian Tracking Of Pollution Plumes From Source To Receptor Using Gridded Model Output, R. C. Owen, R. E. Honrath

Michigan Tech Publications

Lagrangian particle dispersion models (LPDMs) are powerful and popular tools used for the analysis of atmospheric trace gas measurements. However, it can be difficult to determine the transport pathway of emissions from their source to a receptor using the standard gridded model output, particularly during complex meteorological scenarios. In this paper we present a method to clearly and easily identify the pathway taken by only those emissions that arrive at a receptor at a particular time, by combining the standard gridded output from forward (e.g., concentration) and backward (e.g., residence time) LPDM simulations. By comparing the pathway determined from this …

Electric Discharge Caused By Expanding Armatures In Flux Compression Generators, Sergey I. Shkuratov, Jason Baird, Evgueni F. Talantsev, Larry L. Altgilbers

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this letter, we experimentally demonstrate that explosively driven expansion of metallic armature of the magnetic flux compression generator (FCG) plays a dominant role in the formation of plasma and electric discharge initiation inside the FCG.

Hydrometeor-Enhanced Tephra Sedimentation: Constraints From The 18 May 1980 Eruption Of Mount St. Helens, Adam J. Durant, William I. Rose, A. M. Sarna-Wojcicki, S. Carey, A. C. M. Volentik

Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences Publications

Uncertainty remains on the origin of distal mass deposition maxima observed in many recent tephra fall deposits. In this study the link between ash aggregation and the formation of distal mass deposition maxima is investigated through reanalysis of tephra fallout from the Mount St. Helens 18 May 1980 (MSH80) eruption. In addition, we collate all the data needed to model distal ash sedimentation from the MSH80 eruption cloud. Four particle size subpopulations were present in distal fallout with modes at 2.2 Φ, 4.2 Φ, 5.9 Φ, and 8.3 Φ. Settling rates of the coarsest subpopulation closely matched predicted single-particle terminal …

Creating Lakes From Open Pit Mines: Processes And Considerations, Emphasis On Northern Environments, Christopher H. Gammons, Les N. Harris, James M. Castro, Peter A. Cott, Bruce W. Hanna

Geological Engineering

Creating Lakes from Open Pit Mines: Processes and Considerations, Emphasis on Northern Environments. This document summarizes the literature of mining pit lakes (through 2007), with a particular focus on issues that are likely to be of special relevance to the creation and management of pit lakes in northern climates. Pit lakes are simply waterbodies formed by filling the open pit left upon the completion of mining operations with water. Like natural lakes, mining pit lakes display a huge diversity in each of these subject areas. However, pit lakes are young and therefore are typically in a non-equilibrium state with respect …

Multiple Pulsejet Boring Device, W. A. Berger, J. A. Carter, Marian Mazurkiewicz, R. M. Pell, R. A. Spalletta

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A method and device for boring a hole [5] through a material along a desired path includes an umbilical subsystem [2000] connected to a boring subsystem [3000] having a plurality of pulsejets [3100]. These pulsejets [3100] repeatedly receive and ignite a combustible fluid [7] in a combustion chamber [3230] causing a portion of the fluid [7] to be forced out of a nozzle [3260] at high speeds as a fluid slug [10] that impacts materials ahead of the pulsejet [3100]. A controller [3310] controls the amount of fluid provided to each pulsejet [3100], and the firing timing, thereby controlling the …