Field test of high-power microwave-assisted mechanical excavation for deep hard iron ore

Abstract

Microwave-assisted mechanical excavation has great application prospects in mines and tunnels, but there are few field experiments on microwave-assisted rock breaking. This paper takes the Sishanling iron mine as the research object and adopts the self-developed high-power microwave-induced fracturing test system for hard rock to conduct field experiments of microwave-induced fracturing of iron ore. The heating and reflection evolution characteristics of ore under different microwave parameters (antenna type, power, and working distance) were studied, and the optimal microwave parameters were obtained. Subsequently, the ore was irradiated with the optimal microwave parameters, and the cracking effect of the ore under the action of the high-power open microwave was analyzed. The results show that the reflection coefficient (standing wave ratio) can be rapidly (<5 s) and automatically adjusted below the preset threshold value (1.6) as microwave irradiation is performed. When using a right-angle horn antenna with a working distance of 5 cm, the effect of automatic reflection adjustment reaches the best among other antenna types and working distances. When the working distance is the same, the average temperature of the irradiation surface and the area of the high-temperature area under the action of the two antennas (right-angled and equal-angled horn antenna) are basically the same and decrease with the increase of working distance. The optimal microwave parameters are: a right-angle horn antenna with a working distance of 5 cm. Subsequently, in further experiments, the optimal parameters were used to irradiate for 20 s and 40 s at a microwave power of 60 kW, respectively. The surface damage extended 38 cm × 30 cm and 53 cm × 30 cm, respectively, and the damage extended to a depth of about 50 cm. The drilling speed was increased by 56.2% and 66.5%, respectively, compared to the case when microwaves were not used.

Keywords

• Microwave parameters
• High power
• Field experiment
• Mechanical mining