Assessment of emissions into atmosphere of harmful and greenhouse gases during mining, enrichment and transportation of ore

Abstract

The concept of a through energy-ecological assessment of the entire sequence of processes in the production of a particular product in the form of technological fuel and technological environmental numbers is known. A similar estimate has been introduced to characterize greenhouse gas emissions in the steel industry - the technological greenhouse number. To determine the technological environmental and greenhouse numbers, it is necessary to know the emissions of harmful and greenhouse gases. Significant sources of harmful emissions are processes of extraction, enrichment, transportation of raw materials. However, their share in total emissions is estimated very approximately. An attempt was made to clarify it by determining emissions of harmful substances and greenhouse gases for a generalized open pit technology scheme. Technological processes of strip mining of ore materials are considered, as follows: drilling and blasting operations, transportation of baffle from the face by quarry excavators, transportation of baffle from the quarry by traction units, crushing, grinding, formation of railway stock with concentrate, delivery of the stock to metallurgical plant. Auxiliary processes, such as the formation of quarry roads, the transfer of rail tracks and the contact network, the charging and bottomhole of wells, etc., were not considered. In all the listed processes, emissions of harmful and greenhouse gases nto the atmosphere were estimated. Dust formation was not taken into account. When performing calculations, the data of the main units were used under the assumption of their operation at maximum power. The through emissions of harmful and greenhouse gases generated during quarrying, crushing and delivery of poor ores were specified. Their contribution to the total through emissions of the main products of ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy was shown.