ELECTRIC PULSE DISAGGREGATION

Electron micrographs of mineral grains and fossils separated using Electric Pulse Disaggregation


Electric Pulse Disaggregation (EPD) departs from traditional methods of rock comminution by preferentially fracturing rock along natural grain boundaries. This process offers the following benefits to mineralogy and fossil preparation laboratories: Pulsed power involves the precise release of ultra short, high power bursts of electrical energy. When a sufficiently powerful pulse of electrical energy is conducted through rock, plasma streamers are formed which tend to propagate along mineral grain boundaries. These streamers create high internal tensile stresses which tend to fracture materials along grain boundaries.

Scientific aspects of this technology were pursued with Dr. Paul Weiblen of the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis and with Dr. N.S. Rudashevsky of Mechanobr Technical Corporation in St. Petersburg, Russia.

References:

On the following pages, are a few examples of the use of Electric Pulse Disaggregation as a mineral and fossil separation tool.


To The First Micrograph

Bernhardt Saini-Eidukat
Dept. of Geosciences
Dept. #2745, P.O. Box 6050 North Dakota State University
Fargo ND 58108-6050
tel. 701-231-8785 fax 701-231-7149
email: bernhardt.saini-eidukat@ndsu.edu