Objective
The project is generally considered successful in terms of the degree of conformity to the initial objectives. All tasks have been accomplished to a satisfactory extent and new tools are now available to be used by the industry. These are:
Development of a sophisticated processing and interpretation radar software which enables the 3D representation of the fracturation system. A new borehole antenna with superior characteristics, than those available in the market, in terms of the operational frequency. Familiarisation with all existing measuring acoustic systems and evaluation of their performance with detecting microfractures in marble blocks.
The field procedure and interpretation techniques of the surface GPR, borehole GPR tomography, acoustic, resistivity and EM (VLF) methods were optimised and valuable experience and practical knowledge, was gained after testing and developing the techniques. These have been applied to marble and granite quarries, modified accordingly and their results verified after destructive investigation.
It was found that fractures with a minimum thickness of 1 cm can be detected by GPR in operating quarries to a depth of about 10 metres. The resolution is lower at larger depths and it is 3 cm at 18 metres depth.
Quality control testing of the quarried blocks was attempted, for the presence of microfractures and other defects, degrading the block value during the cutting stage.
With the use of the acoustic method in blocks of a few m{3} in size the limit of fracture detection was found at about 1 mm in thickness.
The direct economic benefits to the ornamental stone industry can be summarised as:
- Reduction of the risk of developing new quarries in unsuitable areas, resulting to economic failure.
- Reduction of the waste production and environmental impact.
- Rational and intelligent planning of the quarrying activities with an effect to increase in productivity.
It is proposed to further develop and test modern geophysical techniques, including the radar and acoustic techniques, incorporated to an advanced exploration and exploitation methodology, to be delivered as a new tool to the ornamental stone industry.
The proposed methods offer the possibility of increasing the recovery rate and improving profitability in quarries and processing plants through quality control of quarried blocks.
This will be realised by means of completion of the following tasks:
1. Development of 3D radar software. This will enable construction of a 3D geological database for quarry planning purposes.
2. Designing, constructing and testing of a borehole radar antenna.
3. Construction of an acoustic measuring system. This will enable delineation of microfractures and cracks in a stone block of several m3.
4. Methodology evaluation. The performance of the geophysical methods will be appraised and specifications for further improvements will be defined.
An economic evaluation of the methodology will be carried out and the subsequent market exploitation possibilities would be examined.
Successful completion of the tasks above will result to:
- savings in extraction cost by 30%
- increase of the recovery rate in quarries by a factor of 2 to 3 and in the cutting factories by 50% to 70%
Significant environmental and social benefits are also anticipated due to better planning of the quarrying activities and maintaining employment levels.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences computer and information sciences software
- natural sciences computer and information sciences databases
- social sciences economics and business economics production economics productivity
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering information engineering telecommunications radio technology radar
- social sciences economics and business business and management employment
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
11527 ATHENS
Greece
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.