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SUMMARY:What’s Cooking in Mining? - Dr S Kingman\, School of Chemical\, 
 Environmental and Mining Engineering\, The University of Nottingham
DTSTART:20070214T161500Z
DTEND:20070214T171500Z
UID:TALK6312@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Stephen Walley
DESCRIPTION:3-5% of the electricity generated globally each year is used t
 o break the rocks which provide us with the copper to manufacture our comp
 uters\, gold and diamonds for our jewellery\, iron to make our cars and so
  forth. With the spotlight fixed for the foreseeable future upon the cost 
 of electricity generation and subsequent environmental impacts any reducti
 on in usage will be significant. Many attempts have been made to reduce th
 e amount of energy used to break rocks\, including optimisation\, simulati
 on and conventional heat based thermally induced stress. However\, just as
  it is more efficient to cook your jacket potato in the microwave the same
  is true for mineral-containing rocks. Whilst this may sound bizarre\, a r
 ock’s response to microwave heating can be likened to the behaviour of a
  treacle tart\, the sugary centre heating rapidly whilst the outside remai
 ns cool\, in a rock certain minerals respond quickly\, others not at all. 
 It is this differential heating which allows the generation of thermal str
 ess. The seminar will review the fundamental interaction of microwave ener
 gy with mineral phases\, explain the process of stress generation and how 
 microwave power density can be manipulated to control the degree of fractu
 re produced within the sample. Discussion of the major issues regarding sc
 ale up and the latest work concerned with the use of multiple MW micro sec
 ond microwave pulses on fracture generation will be presented. The seminar
  will finish with a discussion of the future requirements for the developm
 ent of industrial scale systems.
LOCATION:Pippard Lecture Theatre\, Cavendish Laboratory\, Department of Ph
 ysics
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