Conventional mineral waste disposal involves pumping dilute concentration suspensions of tailings to large catchment areas, where the solids settle to form a consolidated base while the excess water is evaporated. Unfortunately, this often takes years, if ever, to occur, and the interim period poses a severe threat to the surrounding countryside and water table. A worldwide movement to increase the concentration of these tailings to pastes for disposal above and below ground, obviating some of these issues, has led to the development of new technologies. Increasing the solids concentrations invariably produces non-Newtonian effects that can mask the underlying nature of the suspension mechanics, resulting in the use of poor pipeline and disposal methods. Combining rheological characterization and analysis with non-Newtonian suspension fluid mechanics provides insight into these flows, both laminar and turbulent. These findings provide the necessary basis for successful engineering designs.

中文翻译：

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液压矿物废料运输和储存

传统的矿物废物处理涉及将尾矿的稀释浓度悬浮液泵送到大的集水区，在那里固体沉降形成一个巩固的基地，同时蒸发多余的水。不幸的是，这通常需要数年时间才能发生，而且过渡时期会对周围的乡村和地下水位构成严重威胁。世界范围内将这些尾矿的浓度提高为用于地上和地下处置的糊状物以消除其中一些问题的运动已经导致了新技术的发展。增加固体浓度总是会产生非牛顿效应，这会掩盖悬浮力学的基本性质，导致使用不良的管道和处置方法。将流变表征和分析与非牛顿悬浮流体力学相结合，可以深入了解这些流动，包括层流和湍流。这些发现为成功的工程设计提供了必要的基础。