Megajoule pulsed power experiments for plasma blasting mining applications

Recent experiments with plasma blasting technology (PBT) at the megajoule level have paved the way for future development of PB’I’ machines for hard rock mining and commercial applications. An overview of the development of this technology is presented in a companion paper [l]. In ajoint project, Noranda Technology Center and Maxwell Laboratories used a 1 megajoule capacitor bank to blast represenative concrete blocks using an electrohydraulic method known as plasma blasting. The main purpose of the experiments was to determine a scaling relationship between the fragmentation yield and the delivered electrical energy. From the new surface area data, a near linear scaling relationship between the fragmentation yield and the delivered energy is indicated. A comparison of the experimental data from the behavior of the electrical circuit to a computer simulation is in excelleinit agreement. The test results and the results from the simulatiilon comparison are presented.

[1]  M. Hamelin,et al.  Hard rock fragmentation with pulsed power , 1993, Ninth IEEE International Pulsed Power Conference.