volume

DETERMINING THE VOLUME OF THE STOCKPILE

The volume of the coal stockpile is determined by using a Triangular Irregular Network (TIN) software package.  The TIN model represents a surface as a set of contiguous, non-overlapping triangles. All areas where the shape of the coal pile undergoes major shape changes and any elevation changes in the ground beneath the coal pile are documented using ground level or photogrammetry methods.  

Using these data points the TIN software package creates a surface that best describes the irregular exterior of the coal pile.  The volume of coal within this TIN is then computed by electronically filling the volume of the TIN above the soil elevation with prisms or polyhedrons of known volume. The software then totals the number of polyhedrons required to fill the TIN to produce a reliable final stockpile volume.

The prismoidal method uses a data point file to create a TIN of the coal surface within the storage area. The volume of coal within the TIN is then computed electronically filling the volume of the TIN above the soil elevation datum with prisms or polyhedrons of known volume. The software totals the number of polyhedrons required to fill the volume of the TIN. And these are recorded to use in the pile density calculation.