Hysteresis of unfrozen water content of tailing mud with freeze-thaw and its correlation with electrical conductivity

Identifying the correlation between the hysteresis of unfrozen water content and the electrical conductivity (EC) of tailing mud with freeze-thaw is essential for determining the range of frost hazards in tailings ponds by field conductivity measurement and enabling targeted treatment in coastal and seasonally frozen areas. In this study, dynamics of unfrozen water content and temperature of saturated tailing mud samples with 0.0–5.0 % NaCl were evaluated with 5TM sensor while the EC with the frequency domain reflectometry (FDR) sensor. Results show that unfrozen water hysteresis of tailing mud with freeze-thaw occurred below phase-change temperatures, with the cooling section above the warming. The area of hysteresis curve rose upon higher salinity or fewer freeze-thaw cycles. Phase-change temperatures of tailing mud, including freezing and thawing points, depressed with higher salinity but were less affected by freeze-thaw cycles, with the former coinciding with the liquidus line of NaCl solution while the latter located above. The EC curve also exhibits hysteresis with freeze-thaw and the initial salinity determines both the maximum EC value and the slope logEC/T below phase-change temperatures. It was concluded that the unfrozen water content, converted salt concentration and EC of frozen tailing mud show synchronous changes. A modified Michalowski model, with phase-change temperatures and residual unfrozen water content respectively simplified as proportional and exponential functions of initial salinity, was established to characterize the unfrozen water hysteresis of tailing mud with freeze-thaw cycles. A simple EC model with hysteresis was then developed by approximating the EC of frozen tailing mud as a power function of the converted salt concentration, which was applied to the tailing mud with 0.5–5.0 % NaCl in the range of −20 °C up to phase-change temperatures.