Doctoral Degrees (Physics)

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Physics) by Author "De Villiers, Dawid"

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    Characterisation of heavy mineral sands and soils by radiometry and its use in mineral benefication and agriculture
    (Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2011-03) De Villiers, Dawid; Stander, J. A.; Rozendaal, Abraham ; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Science. Dept. of Physics.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Radioactivity is well known and well understood, but its usefulness in industrial applications to optimise processes or increase economic viability is not yet fully utilised by many industries. This study focuses on the measurement of natural radioactivity and its application in heavy mineral separation and vineyard soil classification. The gamma radiometry set-up consisted of a high purity germanium detector, a Marinelli beaker as sample container and associated electronics. It was calibrated for laboratorybased measurements by minimising the background radiation with the use of lead castle and energy and resolution calibrations. Furthermore, detection parameters were optimised; these included the counting time, the selection of gamma rays used for analysis of a sample, the peak area calculation for the detector dead time and the detector efficiency. Given that the samples had different densities and volumes, the detector efficiency had to be corrected for volume and density effects. After implementation of the corrections and optimisations the detection system was tested and found able to accurately measure radioactivity concentrations. The systematic measurement errors for 238U were 5.1 % in the case of the heavy mineral sands and 34.3 % for the vineyard soils, 4.5 % for the 232Th concentrations and 4.7 % for 40K concentrations. Statistical errors were kept below 2 %. The application of radiometry has not been done before at any South African heavy mineral separation plant. For this reason radiometry is suggested as an easier, faster and cheaper alternative to X-ray fluorescence (XRF) for effective implementation of grade control for zircon to improve the cost benefit of the heavy mineral separation process. Zircon is an example of a heavy mineral that is worldwide in demand with a consumption of more than a million tonnes per year. It is used in a wide range of industrial applications and products that include tiles, sanitary ware and plasma displays. South Africa is the second largest producer of zircon in the world and also has the second largest reserve of available zircon, making this mineral a viable source of income for several years to come. Radioactivity, in the form of uranium and thorium, and other impurities such as iron oxide and titanium oxide are found in the crystal lattice of zircon. For it to be a sellable product, the sum of the uranium and thorium concentrations must be less than 500 parts per million for prime or first grade zircon and less than 1000 parts per million for second grade zircon. At present the concentrations of uranium and thorium in zircon concentrates are measured on a whole rock basis by XRF during and at the end of the processing cycle before the final products are ready to be shipped. This is not an ideal situation as the grab samples are taken periodically and are not necessarily representative of the stream or final assignment and has resulted in significant losses by the producer. The solution is to accurately measure the uranium and thorium concentrations fast or immediately, preferably the measurements must be made online and in real time so that processing decisions can be implemented quickly to optimise the final product. Heavy mineral sand samples were obtained from the various separation processes in a Mineral Separation Plant and their 238U and 232Th concentrations determined. The results indicated that the samples’ uranium to thorium ratios together with their total concentrations can be used to differentiate between the samples (i.e. separation processes). The measurement results were compared with those obtained with XRF. The correlations with radiometry were excellent for the uranium (r2 = 0.992), thorium (r2 = 0.998) and total concentrations (r2 = 0.998). Radiometric measurements were also conducted by decreasing the counting time from 3600 s to 1 s to investigate its effect on the accuracy of the results. Correlations between the different times and 3600 s ranged from excellent to good. The obtained results are then used to recommend that radiometry is used in a Mineral Separation Plant to verify that the zircon and zirkwa meet the specifications, to optimise the entrance feed and the other separation processes and to monitor the tailings streams. Finally the practical aspects of the implementation of radiometry are discussed. As a second application was radiometry applied in an agricultural pilot study to demonstrate the applicability of radiometry as a possible useful tool in soil classification. The creation of a vineyard is a long term and expensive investment and its yield and quality will be influenced by many factors such as the type of soil, viticultural preparations and climate. Information on the different soil types in a vineyard is therefore indispensable for the optimisation of land use with respect to vine cultivar, wine quality and production. Soil samples were obtained from Kanonkop, Simonsig and Spier vineyards and their 238U, 232Th and 40K concentrations determined, assuming that fertilisers would have no effect on the results. The difference in 40K concentrations were related to the clay fraction of the soil and demonstrated that the Kanonkop and Simonsig soils are fine-grained and clay-rich compared to the sandy coarse-grained soils of Spier. The uranium and thorium concentrations were indicators of whether the mineralogy of the soil is the same as the underlying bedrock as well as soil maturity. The measurement results were compared with those obtained with XRF. The correlation with radiometry were poor for the uranium concentrations (r2 = 0.314), as many of the samples concentrations were below the XRF detection limit. The correlations were excellent for both thorium (r2 = 0.985) and potassium (r2 = 0.999). As a positive result from the findings of the study was an in-situ measurement performed by Newman et al. for the radiometric mapping of a Simonsig vineyard for soil classification.