The internet of things (IOT) and cloud computing (CC) based tailings dam monitoring and pre-alarm system in mines

doi:10.1016/j.ssci.2011.08.028

Safety Science

Volume 50, Issue 4, April 2012, Pages 811-815

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2011.08.028 Get rights and content

Abstract

Tailings disposal is a significant consideration for the mining industry, with the majority of the ore processed in most mining operations ending up as tailings. Several tailings dam failure accidents have occurred during the past few years and mine tailings dam failures, which are disastrous with the serious damage and the loss of lives, are occurring at relatively high rates. To improve the tailings dam safety, a tailings dam monitoring and pre-alarm system (TDMPAS) based on the internet of things (IOT) and cloud computing (CC) is accomplished with the abilities of real-time monitoring of the saturated line, impounded water level and the dam deformation. TDMPAS has helped the mine engineers monitor the dam safety 24/7 and acquire pre-alarm information automatically and remotely in any kind of weather conditions. TDMPAS has been applied in several mines and has demonstrated the feasibility of monitoring the tailings dam physical condition.

Highlights

► Tailings dam failure is disastrous with the serious damage and the loss of lives. ► A tailings dam monitoring and pre-alarm system (TDMPAS) has been developed. ► TDMPAS is based on the internet of things (IOT) and cloud computing (CC) framework. ► TDMPAS can monitor the saturated line, impounded water level and the dam deformation. ► TDMPAS has been demonstrated it is useful to monitor tailings dam safety condition.

Introduction

Instability problems of large dams and the possibility of a dam failure threaten the safety of people and industrial property as well as cause substantial environmental effects (Zhang et al., 2006). Several dam failure accidents have occurred during the last years. Mine tailings dam failures are occurring at relatively high rates. The rate of failure has actually increased in recent years since a previous peak that occurred in the early-mid 1930s (Ricoa et al., 2008).

Many of these failure events have resulted in massive damage in the form of human casualties, destruction of property, pollution of the environment and economic losses to the mining industry (Okusa and Anma, 1980). On September 8th 2008, the XiangFen tailings dam failure in Shanxi province of China caused catastrophic damage with the leakage of 26.8 million cubic tailings sand, the building damages in 500 m downstream and 281 people’s deaths (Wei et al., 2009).

Tailings dam safety has been increased in importance all over the world due to the recent failures that have occurred and the increased consciousness among the people and society and media interest. With the development of internet technologies (Sun et al., 2010), a novel tailings dam monitoring and pre-alarm system (TDMPAS), which is based on the internet of things (IOT) and cloud computing (CC), is achieved with the abilities of real-time monitoring of the saturated line, impounded water level, dry beach elevation and the dam deformation.

Section snippets

The framework of TDMPAS

Traditionally, the tailings operation parameters are regularly calculated by the mine engineers on the scene using the conventional instruments to measure tailings capacity (Li et al., 2009). However, due to weather, labor, site conditions, and many other objective factors effects, there is a certain degree of systematic error and manual operation error. Meanwhile, the manual tailings dam safety monitoring is limited and is not all-weather monitoring (Li et al., 2008).

On this condition, the

TDMPAS functions and its applications

The TDMPAS is a 24/7 automatic monitoring system. Considering the system safety, all the users are required the system security access validation. After checking the user’s roles correctly, the main interface of TDMPAS is shown in Fig. 3. This is an iron mine tailing dam with fourteen deformation monitoring spots, twelve saturated lines monitoring spots and one dam water level monitoring spot. The entire real time datum is showed on it. The green labels that showed on the screen are the

Conclusions

Tailings dam safety is vital to the mine producing, nearby residents and the country economy. In this paper, a tailings dam monitoring and pre-alarm system (TDMPAS) based on the internet of things and cloud computing was introduced with the abilities of real-time monitoring of the saturated line, impounded water level and the dam deformation.

TDMPAS has been applied in several mines and has helped the mine engineers monitor the dam safety and gotten warning information automatically and remotely

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Dr. Xingkai Zhang, the Chief Engineer of China Academy of Safety Science and Technology, for his supervision and encouragement. My sincere appreciation is also given to Dr. Zhongxue Li at the University of Science and Technology Beijing for his advice and assistance. Thanks to Dr. Yunhai Wang, the Superintendent of the Mine Safety Technology Institute of China Academy of Safety Science and Technology, for his support.

Financial support for this work, the Project No.

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^☆: The First International Symposium on Mine Safety Science and Engineering (ISMSSE2011) will be held in Beijing on October 26–29, 2011. The symposium is authorized by the State Administration of Work Safety and is sponsored by China Academy of Safety Science & Technology (CASST), China University of Mining & Technology (Beijing) (CUMTB), Datong Coal Mine Group, McGill University (Canada) and University of Wollongong (Australia) with participation from several other universities from round the world, research institutes, professional associations and large enterprises. The topics will focus on mines safety field: theory on mine safety science and engineering technology, coal mine safety science & engineering technology, metal and nonmetal mines safety science & engineering technology, petroleum and natural gas exploitation safety science & engineering technology, mine safety management and safety standardization science & technology, occupational health and safety in mine, emergent rescue engineering technology in mine, etc.

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Special Issue Article: The First International Symposium on Mine Safety Science and EngineeringThe internet of things (IOT) and cloud computing (CC) based tailings dam monitoring and pre-alarm system in mines☆

Abstract

Highlights

Introduction

Section snippets

The framework of TDMPAS

TDMPAS functions and its applications

Conclusions

Acknowledgements

Engineering Geology

The influence of progressive failure on the choice of the method of stability analysis

Geotechnique

Conditions of tailing ponds distribution and risk management in China

Progress in Safety Science and Technology

Special Issue Article: The First International Symposium on Mine Safety Science and Engineering
The internet of things (IOT) and cloud computing (CC) based tailings dam monitoring and pre-alarm system in mines☆