Disperse and Transport Systems in Geotechnology

The disperse and transport systems in geotechnology deal with the phenomena on earth surface and underground including special mining technology and underground construction. The minerals and products from mineral processing prepared for wide- spread use in various industries can be treated as disperse systems with particular properties and behaviour. Different kind of waste materials can be also classified as disperse systems which should be treated before they are converted into environment harmless form for discharge either on landfills or underground disposal. When a part of treated waste stream can be returned or reused we talk about a recycling process. The principles are very similar to those known from mineral processing or ore dressing. Transport in geotechnology can be understood as a transport of disperse system e.g. bulk solid, suspension of a solid phase in a fluid with particular emphasis on the rheological properties or secondly: as transport phenomena e.g. thermal (or liquid) diffusion in the (under)ground. Characterization of disperse systems in the field of geotechnology is a very important part of described research area. Such characterization is necessary and it can be very complex and specific for particular investigation. Characterization of disperse systems in geotechnology can be divided into a few subareas. Here, we would like to expose: characterization of ground with respect to the transport phenomena and characterization of soil (ground) with respect to possibility for decontamination from the various pollutants, especially heavy metals and mineral oil products. Our research group has got some equipment, which is necessary for such investigation, software support and some previous experience in this area.