ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Testing the in situ Bulk Density of Mining
Waste Stored in Dumping Grounds
More details
Hide details
1
Silesian University of Technology, Faculty of Mining and Geology, Gliwice, Poland
2
POI Format Sp. j., Gliwice, Poland
Submission date: 2017-10-24
Final revision date: 2018-01-25
Acceptance date: 2018-01-28
Online publication date: 2018-11-07
Publication date: 2019-01-28
Corresponding author
Zenon Różański
Silesian University of Technology, Faculty of Mining and Geology, Akademicka 2, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2019;28(3):1347-1354
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
More than 200 dumps serving the disposal of waste produced by hard coal mines are situated in
the Upper Silesian region. The material found in the dumps is mainly coal mining waste (i.e., overburden
rocks obtained in the production and processing of hard coal). Volumetric and bulk densities are
important physical parameters when it comes to recording the amount of waste disposed at the dumps.
A possibility of determining this parameter during field studies was analysed. The method applied
consisted of excavations performed in dump areas, weighing the excavated material and a precise
determination of the volume of a selected space. A study carried out in this way allowed for testing
a much larger sample, as the mass of the sample was only limited by the carrying capacity of the vehicle
transporting the material to be weighed using industrial-grade scales. This had a positive impact on
the accuracy of determining density. The precise determination of density was achieved by using
the photogrammetric method, which guaranteed high accuracy. Two alternative photogrammetric
techniques were used to ensure the control of calculations, i.e., close range terrestrial photogrammetry
and low-altitude photogrammetry using unmanned aerial vehicles. Photographic equipment with
high-resolution matrices was used. The processing of photographic documentation was conducted using
professional software: Pix4d Mapper and AutoCad Civil 3D. Based on the mass and volume results
obtained using the method described above, the bulk density of three coal mining waste samples was
obtained for the actual conditions of the dump. The in-situ testing allowed us to consider the actual
density of the waste material found in the dump.