The deployment of the Joint Technical Operations Team (JTOT) is evolving toward a lean and mobile response team. As a result, opportunities to support more rapid mobilization are being investigated. This study investigates three specific opportunities including: (1) the potential of using standard firefighting equipment to support deployment of the aqueous foam concentrate (AFC-380); (2) determining the feasibility and needs for regional staging of equipment to reduce the inventory currently mobilized during a JTOT response; and (3) determining the feasibility and needs for development of the next generation AFC-380 to reduce the volume of foam concentrate required for a response. This study supports the need to ensure that requirements for alternative deployment schemes are understood and in place to support improved response activities.
A solution mining facility at the Eddy Potash Mine, Eddy County, New Mexico has been proposed that will utilize salinity gradient solar pond (SGSP) technology to supply industrial process thermal energy. The process will include underground dissolution of potassium chloride (KCl) from pillars and other reserves remaining after completion of primary room and pillar mining using recirculating solutions heated in the SGSP. Production of KCl will involve cold crystallization followed by a cooling pond stage, with the spent brine being recirculated in a closed loop back to the SGSP for reheating. This research uses SGSP as a renewable, clean energy source to optimize the entire mining process, minimize environmental wastes, provide a safe, more economical extraction process and reduce the need for conventional processing by crushing, grinding and flotation. The applications of SGSP technology will not only save energy in the extraction and beneficiation processes, but also will produce excess energy available for power generation, desalination, and auxiliary structure heating.