Scholarly Works, Department of Mining and Minerals Engineering

Experimental and Statistical Investigation of Reservoir Properties with the Effect of Waterflooding Treatment

Li, Zihao; Du, Chenguang; Tang, Yongqiang; Li, Xiangming (2020-08-25)

An oilfield reservoir over long-term operation may have different petrophysical information, which has a significant impact on oilfield maintenance and finance. Successful oilfield enhanced oil recovery benefits a lot from ...

Fine Bauxite Recovery Using a Plate-Packed Flotation Column

Zhang, Pengyu; Jin, Saizhen; Ou, Leming; Zhang, Wencai; Zhu, Yuteng (MDPI, 2020-09-02)

In this investigation, the fine-grained bauxite ore flotation was conducted in a plate-packed flotation column. This paper evaluated the effects of packing-plates on recovering fine bauxite particles and revealed the ...

Discrimination of Six Flotation Kinetic Models Used in the Conventional Flotation and Carrier Flotation of -74 μm Coal Fines

Bu, Xiangning; Wang, Xuexia; Zhou, Shaoqi; Li, Biao; Zhan, Hanhui; Xie, Guangyuan (2020-06-16)

In this study, experimental results of conventional flotation and carrier flotation were characterized by six commonly used flotation kinetic models. Two statistical criteria (coefficient of determination, R-2, and root ...

Enhanced Bauxite Recovery Using a Flotation Column Packed with Multilayers of Medium

Zhang, Pengyu; Zhang, Wencai; Ou, Leming; Zhu, Yuteng; Zhu, Zicheng (MDPI, 2020-06-30)

An innovative self-designed medium was packed in a bench-scale flotation column to study its influence on the flotation recovery of bauxite. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation was conducted to reveal the impact ...

A Comprehensive Review of Rare Earth Elements Recovery from Coal-Related Materials

Zhang, Wencai; Noble, Aaron; Yang, Xinbo; Honaker, Rick (MDPI, 2020-05-17)

Many studies have been published in recent years focusing on the recovery of rare earth elements (REEs) from coal-related materials, including coal, coal refuse, coal mine drainage, and coal combustion byproducts particularly ...

Effect of Pore Size Heterogeneity on Hydrocarbon Fluid Distribution, Transport, and Primary and Secondary Recovery in Nano-Porous Media

Zhang, Kaiyi; Du, Fengshuang; Nojabaei, Bahareh (MDPI, 2020-04-03)

In this paper, we investigate the effect of pore size heterogeneity on fluid composition distribution of multicomponent-multiphase hydrocarbons and its subsequent influence on mass transfer in shale nanopores. The change ...

Springing for Safe Water: Drinking Water Quality and Source Selection in Central Appalachian Communities

Patton, Hannah; Krometis, Leigh Anne Henry; Sarver, Emily (MDPI, 2020-03-21)

Issues surrounding water infrastructure, access, and quality are well documented in the Central Appalachian region of the United States. Even in cases where residents have in-home piped point-of-use (POU) water, some rely ...

Grinding Behaviors of Components in Heterogeneous Breakage of Coals of Different Ash Contents in a Ball-and-Race Mill

Duan, Jin; Lu, Qichang; Zhao, Zhenyang; Wang, Xin; Zhang, Yuxin; Wang, Jue; Li, Biao; Xie, Weining; Sun, Xiaolu; Zhu, Xiangnan (MDPI, 2020-03-03)

Coals used for power plants normally have different ash contents, and the breakage of coals by the ball-and-race mill or roller mill is an energy-intensive process. Grinding phenomena in mill of power plants is complex, ...

Differential Entropy Analysis of the Acoustic Characteristics of a Biomimetic Dynamic Sonar Emitter

Yang, Luhui; Müller, Rolf (MDPI, 2020-03-03)

Active noseleaf deformations during pulse emission observed in hipposiderid and rhinolophid bats have been shown to add a time dimension to the bats’ acoustic emission characteristics beyond the established dependencies ...

Development of a Methodology for Interface Boundary Selection in the Multiscale Road Tunnel Fire Simulations

Haghighat, Ali; Luxbacher, Kray; Lattimer, Brian Y. (2018-07)

The simulation of large complex dynamical systems such as a fire in road tunnels is necessary but costly. Therefore, there is a crucial need to design efficient models. Coupling of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models ...

Dynamic Displacement of an Aluminum Frame Using Close Range Photogrammetry

Ghaychi Afrouz, Setareh; Razavi, Mohammad Reza; Pourkand, Ashkan; Mara Dias Wilson, Claudia (MDPI, 2019-07-29)

Dynamic displacement measurement of objects can be challenging due to the limitations of conventional methods and pricey instrumentation of unconventional methods, such as laser scanners. In this research, Close Range ...

A Review of Gas Injection in Shale Reservoirs: Enhanced Oil/Gas Recovery Approaches and Greenhouse Gas Control

Du, Fengshuang; Nojabaei, Bahareh (MDPI, 2019-06-19)

Shale oil and gas resources contribute significantly to the energy production in the U.S. Greenhouse gas emissions come from combustion of fossil fuels from potential sources of power plants, oil refineries, and flaring ...

Determination of critical parameters in the analysis of road tunnel fires

Haghighat, Ali; Luxbacher, Kray (Elsevier, 2018-07-12)

The analysis of the fluid characteristics downstream of a fire source in transportation tunnels is one the most important factor in the emergency response, evacuation, and the rescue service studies. Some crucial parameters ...

Method of separating and de-watering fine particles

Mining and Minerals Engineering; Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties, Inc.; Yoon, Roe-Hoan (United States Patent and Trademark Office, 2016-12-13)

A process for cleaning and dewatering hydrophobic particulate materials is presented. The process is performed in two steps: 1) agglomeration of the hydrophobic particles in a first hydrophobic liquid/aqueous mixture; ...

Cleaning and dewatering fine coal

Mining and Minerals Engineering; Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties, Inc.; Yoon, Roe-Hoan; Eraydin, Mert K.; Freeland, Chad (United States Patent and Trademark Office, 2017-10-17)

Fine coal is cleaned of its mineral matter impurities and dewatered by mixing the aqueous slurry containing both with a hydrophobic liquid, subjecting the mixture to a phase separation. The resulting hydrophobic liquid ...

Determining Coalbed Methane Production and Composition from Individual Stacked Coal Seams in a Multi-Zone Completed Gas Well

Ripepi, Nino; Louk, Kyle; Amante, Joseph; Schlosser, Charlies; Tang, Xu; Gilliland, Ellen (MDPI, 2017-10-02)

This work proposes a novel and cost-effective approach to determine coalbed methane (CBM) production and composition from individual coal seams in a multi-zone completed CBM well. The novel method uses water to cover ...