Effect of Surfactants on Specific Fracture Energy of Carbonate Rocks at Different Temperatures

The article reports the experimental data on the effect of sodium laureth sulfate and neonol AF 9-12 on the specific fracture energy of dolomite at the Internatsionalnaya pipe and limestone at the Mokhsogollokh open pit at temperatures in a range of +20…-30°C. In the positive temperature range, the specific fracture energy of dolomite treated with surfactants, lowers by 28% on the average. Under negative temperatures, an increase is observed in the specific fracture energy of dolomite samples saturated with surfactant solutions. At the temperatures below –10°C, the specific fracture energy of dolomite exceeds its specific fracture energy at the positive temperatures by 2.3–3.1 times. The indicators of fracture of dolomite samples saturated with surfactants totally agree with the fracture indicators of water-saturated samples. The specific fracture energy of limestone treated with surfactant solutions decreases by 5–10% under positive temperatures and increases by 8–15% under negative temperatures as compared with the specific fracture energy of air-dried samples.