Pneumatic-Hydraulic Material Transport System for Rapid Excavation of Tunnels.

摘要

The objective of this study is to advance the technology of tunnel excavation by analyzing the application of pneumatic and slurry pipelines for increasing the rate of muck removal from the tunnel face. A computer simulation was used to analyze the cost-performance of the pipeline transportation system. This report discusses the results of a two-phase study on rapid excavation. The first phase aims to model the performance of the proposed transport system so that parametric analyses can be performed to determine the applicability of the system and,the second phase aims to model the cost-performance of the same transport system. The problem involves designing a rapid excavation system in which grinding at the face by the tunnel-boring machine is minimized while the cutter wear life is maximized. A crushing circuit is provided for the muck to reduce the energy requirements for pipeline transportation,both pneumatically and hydraulically. The pneumatic pipeline provides the necessary extensibility by telescoping pipe to convey the muck from the advancing tunneling machine to the stationary high capacity slurry pipeline for rapid long distance transportation. The system concept is based entirely on commercially available equipment with minimum modifications necessary to adapt it to tunnel geometry. Unit transportation costs for several system designs are also discussed herein.