ND IN MINING

MINE HYDROLOGY/ MINE DRAINAGE

ASSIGNMENT 1

Due date: 19 April 2013 @ 1000hours

Instructions

Answer all questions

All questions carry equal marks

Question 1

(a) Describe the following techniques used for measuring evaporation;

(i) Indirect Methods [5 marks]

Because of problems encountered in making direct measurements of evaporation from lakes and
reservoirs, a number of indirect methods, such as the water-budget, the energy-budget, the
aerodynamic approach or combination of these, are frequently used. The meteorological elements
incorporated into these methods are solar and long-wave radiation, air and water-surface temperatures,
atmospheric humidity or vapour pressure, and wind. Instruments and observational procedures for
measuring these elements are described in the following subsections. The manner in which observations
of the above elements are used in various indirect methods for estimating evaporation is described
below.

(ii) Direct methods [5 marks]

Reasonably accurate methods of measurement of evaporation and evapotranspiration are available

from pans and small bodies of water and soil, but direct measurement of evaporation or
evapotranspiration from large water or land surfaces is not possible at present. However, several
indirect methods have been developed that give acceptable results. Evaporation pans and lysimeters are
used in networks for this purpose, and are discussed in this chapter. For existing reservoirs and plots or
small catchments, estimates can be made by water-budget, energy-budget, and aerodynamic
approaches and other available methods. Computation of evaporation and evapotranspiration from
water and land surfaces by the various indirect methods is also discussed separately in this chapter.
Some of the direct methods are as follows.

(iii) Use of remotely sensed data. [5 marks]

 (b) Describe the principle of operation in measuring evaporation using;
(i) Evaporation pan [5 marks]
(ii) Lysimeter [5 marks]

Question 2

(a) The common methods to determine the areal depth of precipitation are Arithimetic mean and the
Thiessen Polygon. For each method describe its applicability. [10 marks]

If the country is flat and the gauges are uniformly distributed over the area, the rainfall of the individual
stations does not show much variation from the mean precipitation of the area. In the arithmetic mean
method, the average depth of rainfall ( P ) over an area is taken as the arithmetic mean of the rainfall
depths of all stations. It is obtained by dividing the sum of the depths of rainfall recorded at all the rain
gauge stations by the number of stations. Thus

Example

Figure 3 illustrates the calculation of

average depth (in a spreadsheet
format).In this example the result is 88.4
mm over the entire watershed. The
total volume in cubic meters is the
product of the average depth and the
watershed area converted into cubic
meters. The watershed area is 16 km2.
Thus the total volume of precipitation
over the watershed is 1:41x106m3. We will compare this volume to the other ways of estimated
distributed rainfall
depths.
 Rain Gauge
X(km) Y(km) Z(km)
A 2 9 99.1
B 4 6 85.1
C 1 4.5 90.2
D 0 3 88.9
E 3 1 78.7

3.3.2 Thiessen polygon method

In the Thiessen polygon method, the rainfall recorded at each rain gauge station is given a weightage of
the basis of the area which it represents. This method is better than the arithmetic mean method which
gives equal weightage to all the stations. The following procedure is used.

Procedure
(i) The positions of the rain gauge stations are marked on the plan of the catchment area over which the
average rainfall depth is required.

(ii) The adjacent rain gauge stations are then joined by straight lines; thus the entire area is divided into
a series of triangles (Fig 2.6). The rain gauge stations which are outside thE catchment area but are in its
neighbourhood should also be considered.

(iii) Perpendicular bisectors are then drawn on the connecting lines to form polygons around stations.
Each polygon contains only one rain gauge station. The entire area of a particular polygon is nearer to
the rain gauge station contained therein than to any other rain gauge station. Thus each polygon
represents the area of the influence of that rain gauge station.

(iv) For determination of the average depth of rainfall, the boundary of the catchment is taken as the
outer limit of the Thiessen polygons. The areas of the polygons are determined either with a planimeter
or with an overlay grid

(v) The average precipitation of the area is given by

In this method, the stations situated outside the catchment area are also effectively used. Once the
weightage factors have been determined, the computation of the average precipitation for different
storms becomes easy. However, the method has one drawback that it is inflexible. A new Thiessen
polygon network is required when there is a change in the location of the rain gauges or when new rain
gauge stations are set up. Moreover, no adjustment can be made for variations due to altitudes and
other factors.

(b) Explain how Horton’s Infiltration Model can be used to describe the concepts of infiltration rate
and infiltration capacity. Explain a limitation, what terms need to be derived and when Horton’s
Infiltration model generally applies. [5 marks]
(c) Describe the two methods used to determine infiltration. [10 marks]

Question 3

(a) What is groundwater? [2 marks]

(b) Define the following terms in relation to groundwater:
(i) Pore pressure, (ii) Aquiclude (iii)Aquifer (iv) Hydraulic conductivity (v) Transmissivity (vi)
Specific yield (vii) Specific retention (viii) Porosity (ix) Isotropy (x) Anisotropy [12 marks]
(c) With the aid of illustrative diagrams, briefly explain what is meant by:
 (i) Confined aquifer. [3 marks]
(ii) Unconfined acquifer [3 marks]
(iii) Artesian well [3 marks]
(d) What are the limitations of Darcy’s law groundwater flow [2 marks]

Question 4

The profile of a masonry dam is an arc of a circle, the arc having a radius of 30m and subtending an angle
of 600at the centre of curvature which lies in the water surface.

(a) Calculate
(i) The load on the dam in N/m length, [5]
(ii) The position of the line of action to this pressure. [5]

(b) A fully open globe valve is placed in steel pipe carrying water at 50C as shown in figure 1.1
below. Apart from minor losses in the valve, the pipe is assumed to be frictionless.

Figure 1.1

(i) Write down the energy equation that applies between points 1 and 2, clearly explaining all the
terms in the equation. [5]
(ii) State any three assumptions of the Bernoulli relationship when solving fluid flow problems.
[3]
(iii) Compute the specific discharge and the average linear velocity for water flowing through a
pipe filled with sand, with K = 10-4cm/s; dh/dl = 0.01, A = 75cm2 and η = 0.22 [8]