tunneling

터널링

Innovation in tunnel spoils management

이슈 한눈에 보기

Earth Pressure Balance Tunnel Boring Machines (EPB TBMs) are utilized in the construction of rail tunnels, metropolitan subway systems, highway tunnels, and other projects where the tunnel will be constructed either partly or completely in soft soil.

In many tunnelling projects, a large amount of muck is generated. Bentonite-based drilling lubricants, lubricating foams, and other additives are used to maintain pressure on the over-burden and reduce friction on the large rotating cutting heads located at the front of the tunnel boring machines.

The amount of lubricant used depends on the geology being tunnelled through. The lubricant also facilitates the transport of the debris generated to the rear of the tunnel boring machine where it is transported by a conveyor system or mud car to the surface. When this waste arrives at the surface, it has the consistency of muck, which is often difficult and expensive to dispose of.

The process for muck disposal often looks like this:

  1. Specialized vacuum trucks transport the muck to a transfer station
  2. 톱밥과 같은 벌크제가 사용됩니다(일반적으로 슬러리를 50-200%까지 벌크화).
  3. 덤프트럭은 늘어난 폐기물을 최종 처리 장소로 운반합니다.

This means more trucks needed, more time wasted, higher greenhouse gas emissions and higher disposal costs incurred. Traditional methods can also result in waste with high pH, create corrosive and dangerous waste, and change waste classification.

메타플로 제품 개요

MetaFLO provides non-toxic inert solidification reagents that rapidly absorb water on-site and help waste pass the Paint Filter Test (PFT). They can be applied to muck generated by EPB TBMs in order to solidify waste more efficiently compared to traditional methods. Varying dosage is required based on the moisture content of the muck.

With MetaFLO, muck disposal is optimized:

  1. MetaFLO’s technology solidifies the slurry on-site
  2. The solidified slurry is transferred to dump trucks to be transported directly to the final disposal site.

Our solidification reagents can be applied at the surface, or at the source, using muck conveyor belts to begin the solidification process early—saving time and labour.

Liquid Waste Solidification

Dump Trucks vs Vac Trucks

Trucks Daily
Emissions

Our proven MetaFLO process has clear benefits:

  1. Reduced operational footprint in congested urban sites to manage spoils quickly
  2. Improved transportation efficiency to remove dry material from project sites
  3. Solidified spoils that meet regulatory criteria to go directly to clean fill sites Lower GHG emissions, improved urban logistics, responsible excess soil management

Treating 2500m3 of Tunnel Spoils - 17 lbs./gal waste material with:

 

MetaFLO

톱밥

Lime 

Cement

Total Weight of waste material (lbs.)

11,220,000 11,220,000 11,220,000 11,220,000

Dosage (%) of Reagent

0.2% 30% 5% 10%

Total Reagent (lbs.)

22,440 3,366,000 561,000 1,122,000

Total Solidified Material weight (lbs.)

11,244,440 14,586,000 11,781,000 12,342,000

Total volume of solidified material (M3)

2520 19,275 2580 2840

 

MetaFLO Technologies can work with operations personnel to help put together a tailored and effective plan to address the challenges of dealing with muck generated by EPB TBMs.

아이콘 전송 W

운송 비용 대폭 절감

아이콘 생태학 W

환경 및 안전 위험 최소화

아이콘 절약 W

지속 가능하고 효율적인 폐기물 관리

사례 연구

Find out how MetaFLO helped Eglinton strategically manage more than 100,000 tons of mud spoils in downtown Toronto. With a 0.2% w/w dose, our reagent provided a more reliable end product and required 66% less material than the competing solidification reagent used prior.

Our clients

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