Uso do GPR na geração de modelos estáticos 3D para o planejamento de lavra de minerais pesados depositados em dunas eólicas

This project was developed as a partnership between the Laboratory of Stratigraphical Analyses of the Geology Department of UFRN and the company Millennium Inorganic Chemicals Mineração Ltda. This company is located in the north end of the paraiban coast, in the municipal district of Mataraca. Millennium has as main prospected product, heavy minerals as ilmenita, rutilo and zircon presents in the sands of the dunes. These dunes are predominantly inactive, and overlap the superior portion of Barreiras Formation rocks. The mining happens with the use of a dredge that is emerged at an artificial lake on the dunes. This dredge removes sand dunes of the bottom lake (after it disassembles of the lake borders with water jets) and directs for the concentration plant, through piping where the minerals are then separate. The present work consisted in the acquisition external geometries of the dunes, where in the end a 3D Static Model could be set up of these sedimentary deposits with emphasis in the behavior of the structural top of Barreiras Formation rocks (inferior limit of the deposit). The knowledge of this surface is important in the phase of the plowing planning for the company, because a calculation mistake can do with that the dredge works too close of this limit, taking the risk that fragments can cause obstruction in the dredge generating a financial damage so much in the equipment repair as for the stopped days production. During the field stages (accomplished in 2006 and 2007) topographical techniques risings were used with Total Station and Geodesic GPS as well as shallow geophysical acquisitions with GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar). It was acquired almost 10,4km of topography and 10km of profiles GPR. The Geodesic GPS was used for the data geopositioning and topographical rising of a traverse line with 630m of extension in the stage of 2007. The GPR was shown a reliable method, ecologically clean, fast acquisition and with a low cost in relation to traditional methods as surveys. The main advantage of this equipment is obtain a continuous information to superior surface Barreiras Formation rocks. The static models 3D were elaborated starting from the obtained data being used two specific softwares for visualization 3D: GoCAD 2.0.8 and Datamine. The visualization 3D allows a better understanding of the Barreiras surface behavior as well as it makes possible the execution of several types of measurements, favoring like calculations and allowing that procedures used for mineral extraction is used with larger safety

Simulação computacional do escoamento em bombas de cavidades progressivas

The use of Progressing Cavity Pumps (PCPs) in artificial lift applications in low deep wells is becoming more common in the oil industry, mainly, due to its ability to pump heavy oils, produce oil with large concentrations of sand, besides present high efficiency when compared to other artificial lift methods. Although this system has been widely used as an oil lift method, few investigations about its hydrodynamic behavior are presented, either experimental or numeric. Therefore, in order to increase the knowledge about the BCP operational behavior, this work presents a novel computational model for the 3-D transient flow in progressing cavity pumps, which includes the relative motion between rotor and stator, using an element based finite volume method. The model developed is able to accurately predict the volumetric efficiency and viscous looses as well as to provide detailed information of pressure and velocity fields inside the pump. In order to predict PCP performance for low viscosity fluids, advanced turbulence models were used to treat, accurately, the turbulent effects on the flow, which allowed for obtaining results consistent with experimental values encountered in literature. In addition to the 3D computational model, a simplified model was developed, based on mass balance within cavities and on simplification on the momentum equations for fully developed flow along the seal region between cavities. This simplified model, based on previous approaches encountered in literature, has the ability to predict flow rate for a given differential pressure, presenting exactness and low CPU requirements, becoming an engineering tool for quick calculations and providing adequate results, almost real-time time. The results presented in this work consider a rigid stator PCP and the models developed were validated against experimental results from open literature. The results for the 3-D model showed to be sensitive to the mesh size, such that a numerical mesh refinement study is also presented. Regarding to the simplified model, some improvements were introduced in the calculation of the friction factor, allowing the application fo the model for low viscosity fluids, which was unsuccessful in models using similar approaches, presented in previous works

Excitações em cristais fotônicos unidimensionais

In this work, we present a theoretical study of the propagation of electromagnetic waves in multilayer structures called Photonic Crystals. For this purpose, we investigate the phonon-polariton band gaps in periodic and quasi-periodic (Fibonacci-type) multilayers made up of both positive and negative refractive index materials in the terahertz (THz) region. The behavior of the polaritonic band gaps as a function of the multilayer period is investigated systematically. We use a theoretical model based on the formalism of transfer matrix in order to simplify the algebra involved in obtaining the dispersion relation of phonon-polaritons (bulk and surface modes). We also present a quantitative analysis of the results, pointing out the distribution of the allowed polaritonic bandwidths for high Fibonacci generations, which gives good insight about their localization and power laws. We calculate the emittance spectrum of the electromagnetic radiation, in THZ frequency, normally and obliquely incident (s and p polarized modes) on a one-dimensional multilayer structure composed of positive and negative refractive index materials organized periodically and quasi-periodically. We model the negative refractive index material by a effective medium whose electric permittivity is characterized by a phonon-polariton frequency dependent dielectric function, while for the magnetic permeability we have a Drude like frequency-dependent function. Similarity to the one-dimensional photonic crystal, this layered effective medium, called polaritonic Crystals, allow us the control of the electromagnetic propagation, generating regions named polaritonic bandgap. The emittance spectra are determined by means of a well known theoretical model based on Kirchoff s second law, together with a transfer matrix formalism. Our results shows that the omnidirectional band gaps will appear in the THz regime, in a well defined interval, that are independent of polarization in periodic case as well as in quasiperiodic case

Estruturação do grupo Serra Grande região de Santana do Acaraú- CE e a reativação do lineamento Sobral Pedro II, integração com dados geofísicos

The study area is located in the NW portion of the Ceará state nearby the city of Santana do Acaraú. Geologically it lies along the Sobral-Pedro II lineament which limits the domains of Ceará Central and Noroeste do Ceará, both belonging to the Borborema Province.The object of study was a NE trending 30km long siliciclastic body (sandstone and conglomerate) bounded by transcurrent dextral faults. The sediments are correlated to the Ipú Formation (Serra Grande Group) from the Parnaiba basin, which age is thought to be Siluro-Devonian. Existing structural data shown that bedding has higher but variable dips (70-45) near the borders faults and much lower to subhorizontal inward the body. The brittle deformation was related to a reactivation, in lower crustal level, of the Sobral-Pedro II lineament (Destro (1987, 1999; Galvão, 2002).The study presented here was focused in applying geophysicals methods (gravimetry and seismic) to determine the geometry of the sandstone/conglomeratic body and together with the structural data, to propose a model to explain its deformation. The residual anomalies maps indicate the presence of two main graben-like structures. The sedimentary pile width was estimated from 2D gravimetric models to be about 500-600 meters. The 3D gravimetric model stressed the two maximum width regions where a good correlation is observed between the isopach geometry and the centripetal strike/dip pattern displayed by the sediments bedding. Two main directions (N-S and E-W) of block moving are interpreted from the distribution pattern of the maximum width regions of the sedimentary rock