Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
DUST CONTROL SYSTEM FOR HAULING VEHICLES TO SUPPRESS
DUST DURING LOADING AND UNLOADING PROCESSES
FIELD
The improvements generally relate to the field of material hauling,
particularly in the field of
hauling earth, rock and minerals in the mining industry.
BACKGROUND
The loading and unloading of materials in the movement of earth, rock and
minerals
represents about 20% to 30% of the dust emissions caused by mining and
quarrying of
materials. Likewise, the loading, transportation and unloading of materials
together represent
.. 40% to 60% of the operating costs of a mine, as it involves a large amount
of high-cost
operating equipment, contains high associated risks is intensive in
maintenance needs.
The loading and unloading process involves preparing the work area,
positioning the loading
and material transport equipment, removing the material from the loading area,
transferring it
to equipment providing transporting means, such as a haulage truck or other
material haulage
equipment, transporting the material to its destination, unloading the
material at its destination
area, and then returning the equipment providing the transporting means, such
as the haulage
truck to the loading area.
The loading and unloading of material into ore and rock mining trucks
generates extreme dust
emissions that reduce the visibility, slow down the entire process, impact the
health of the
.. operators, increase equipment maintenance costs, reduce productivity,
generate emissions of
particulate matter with diameters that are of 10 micrometers or less (PM10)
and with diameters
that are of 2.5 micrometers or less (PM2.5), which are transported through the
mine and can
further contribute to other significant inconveniences. There thus always
remains room for
improvement.
SUMMARY
The industry continues to search for effective and operationally attractive
solutions for the
suppression and control of airborne dust particles in the loading and
unloading operations in
mining sites and quarries of earth, rock, and other materials.
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In accordance with one aspect, there is provided a dust suppression system
incorporated in
the hopper of mining trucks for minerals, rocks and other materials used
within mining and
quarrying operations.
In accordance with another aspect, there is provided
In accordance with yet another aspect, there is provided
Many further features and combinations thereof concerning the present
improvements will
appear to those skilled in the art following a reading of the instant
disclosure.
DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
In the figures,
Figs. 1A and 1B are side views of an example dust control system on a mining
truck;
Fig. 2 is a rear view of the dust control system and mining truck of Fig. 1A
and 1B;
Fig. 3A and 3B are oblique views of an example dust control system for hauling
vehicles;
Fig. 5 is a flow chart of an example method of mitigating dust during
operation of a hauling
vehicle; and
Fig. 6 is a schematic view of an example of a computing device of a
controller.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Fig. 1A shows a side view of a dust control system 10 mounted to a hauling
vehicle 47 that,
in this example, is a mining truck 48. The mining truck 48 has a wheeled
chassis, an engine,
a hopper 50, having a bed surrounding by walls 41, and a cab 49, for instance.
The hopper
50 is made for loading, transporting, and unloading soil, rocks and/or other
materials. The
mining truck has a example dust control system 10, the dust control system 10
is composed
of a tank 11 filled up with a dust suppression solution 12, which in this case
is water mixed
with suppressant additives, a temperature sensor 14 and a level sensor 16, a
pump 18, a
corresponding control system 20 including a controller 21, and sprinkler bars
22 having
nozzles 30. The dust control system 10 generates particles 52 of the dust
suppression solution
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12 via the nozzles 30 and has the advantage of providing localized dust
suppression during
material loading and unloading processes of the mining truck 48.
Particles 52 of the dust suppression solution 12, are ejected from the nozzles
30. The particles
52 are suspended in the air surrounding the opening of the hopper 50,
generally referred to
as the receiving area 54 of the hopper 50, forming a cloud area 53 of
particles which randomly
collide with the airborne dust particles generated by the material loaded into
the hopper 50.
As will be discussed in further detail below, each nozzle has a fluid path,
wherein the fluid
paths 31 of the plurality of the nozzles are oriented in a manner to
collectively form a cloud
area 53, which can also simply be referred to as the cloud, covering the
receiving area 54.
The airborne dust particles become trapped with the particles 52 of the cloud
53 and are
ultimately dragged by the increased overall mass of the particles 52 in the
cloud 53 towards
the contents of the hopper 50 via gravitational forces. Written otherwise, the
particles 52 catch
the airborne dust particles by agglutinating with the dust particles, the
agglutinated dust and
particles subsequently landing on the contents of the hopper 50. In all cases,
the airborne dust
particles are prevented from staying in the ambient air.
As is perhaps best seen in Fig. 1B, the dust control system 10 on this mining
truck 48 is
configured to be used for both the loading operation, which can be done with
the hopper 50
down as shown in Fig. 1A, and the unloading operation, which can be done by
pivoting the
hopper at an angle such as to dump the materials received therein as seen in
Fig. 1B. In both
these cases, and as will be made clear below, the dust control system 10 can
form a cloud 53
to provide localized dust suppression.
In this embodiment, the dust control system 10 has all of its components on
the hopper 50,
above the cab 49. They are made integral to the hopper 50 via the use of
anchor bolts 32
(Example perhaps best seen in Fig. 3B) to the hopper 50 of the mining truck
48. It is
understood, however, that while the embodiment in Figs. 1A and 1B shows the
dust control
system 10 having all of its components on the hopper 50, above the cab 49, it
is understood
that that the dust control system 10 can be placed elsewhere on the mining
truck 48, can be
embodied within the truck hopper or can have its components separate from one
another and
fluidly connected via the use of tubing, for instance, such as to have
different elements in or
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on distinct parts of the mining truck 48. For instance, in an alternate
embodiment, the tank 11
is placed on a side of the mining truck 48, permitting easy filling for
instance, and is fluidly
connected to the sprinkler bars 22 via tubing, which are placed on top of the
hopper 50.
Similarly, the nozzles 30 can be placed elsewhere on the hopper without
departing form the
present disclosure. For instance, in an alternate embodiment, the nozzles can
be placed on
one or both lateral walls 55, that is ¨ the walls on either side of the truck
with regards the front
and back driving directions and have fluid paths 31 extending over the
receiving area and
towards the opposite one of the lateral walls 55 of the hopper 50.
Fig. 2 shows a rear view of the dust control system 10 on the mining truck 48
of Fig. 1A. The
tank 11, the sprinkler bars 22 with the nozzles 30, the pump 18 and the
programmable control
system 20 with the controller 21 can be seen and are placed on the hopper 50.
When the dust
control system 10 is operating, the particles 52 of the dust suppression
solution, which may
include or omit suppressant additives, are ejected from the sprinkler bars 22
through the
nozzles 30 forming the cloud 53 to catch dust and land on the contents of the
hopper.
As will be made clear below, the described dust control system 10 can be
activated via a
button in the cab 49 by the vehicle operator for instance, activated remotely
by another
operator or activated automatically via the use of a sensing device. In all
cases, the start of
dust control system 10, the duration of the suppression cycle, that is ¨ the
duration of the
spraying of the dust suppression solution 12, the pressure at which the dust
suppression
solution 12 is sprayed and the volume flow rate of the spraying, related to
the intensity of
irrigation can be programmed to the controller 21 or otherwise modulated by
the operator.
Attention is now brought to Fig. 3A, showing an example dust control system 10
for hauling
vehicles 47, such as mining trucks 48 for instance. In this embodiment, the
dust control system
10 is composed of a tank 11 filled up with a dust suppression solution 12,
which in this case
is water mixed with suppressant additives, a temperature sensor 14 and a level
sensor 16, a
pump 18, a corresponding control system 20 including a controller 21, and
sprinkler bars 22
having nozzles 30. The dust control system 10 generates particles (not shown)
of the dust
suppression solution 12 via the nozzles 30 and has the advantage of providing
localized dust
suppression during material loading and unloading processes.
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In this embodiment, the dust suppression solution 12 can be heated in the tank
11 by a heating
system 24. The illustrated heating system 24 is a thermal cable 26, however it
is understood
that other types of heating systems could be used in other embodiments without
departing
from the present disclosure. The heating system 24 is of use to facilitate the
system operation
in all weather conditions, particularly in cold weather conditions by keeping
the solution the
dust suppression solution 12 above the freezing temperature, such as at 5 C
for instance.
Further, the heating system 24 can be used to heat the solution to a desired
temperature such
as to facilitate the atomization process at the nozzles 30. For example, it
was determined that
heating a solution 12 between 30 C and 45 C, preferably 40 C, permitted to
decrease the
overall size of the particles sprayed by the nozzles 30 by approximately 20%
to 25% while
maintaining other parameters identical. Further, in some embodiments, the tank
11 can be
considered a closed tank, where the heating of the solution 12 increases the
pressure in the
tank 11. This increased pressure can be used to help the pump 18 (Fig. 4),
reducing the
amount of work it must do in the dust control system 10.
As is perhaps best seen in Fig. 3B, showing the portion 3B-3B of Fig. 3A
enlarged, each
sprinkler bar 22 is formed by a pipe 28 which brings the dust suppression
solution 12 to the
nozzles 30. The nozzles 30, which in this embodiment are atomization nozzles
forming a full
cone spray having a spray angle spray angle a and p between 60 and 120 . In
this particular
case, and as perhaps best seen in Fig. 3B, the spray angle along the length of
the sprinkler
bars 22, which generally corresponds to the horizontal orientation on which a
hauling vehicle
47 drives, is referred to as the alpha (a) spray angle and the spray angle
generally in the
vertical orientation, typically along the direction in which the hauling
vehicle 47 drives, is
referred to as the beta (p) angle. The full cone spray of the nozzle 30 can
have identical or
differing alpha a and beta angles without departing from the present
disclosure. While the
example shown in Fig. 3B displays the alpha a and beta p angles being formed
with respect
to a central spray axis 27, it is understood that in some embodiments, some or
all of the
nozzles can form a bent stream or a split stream.
It is understood that the nozzles 30 can be any type of nozzle and that there
may be a mix of
nozzles types along the sprinkler bars 22 without departing from the present
disclosure. For
instance, in one embodiment, the nozzles 30 on the sprinkler bars 22 can be a
mix of full cone
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nozzles, hollow cone nozzles, air atomizing nozzles, misting nozzles, fog
nozzles and nozzles
forming a flat fan-like spray. It is further understood that the use of any
one of the full cone
nozzles, hollow cone nozzles, air atomizing nozzles, misting nozzles, fog
nozzles and flat fan-
like nozzles in the dust control system 10 can be provided in an alternate
embodiment.
Notwithstanding the type of spray formed by the nozzle 30, the solution 12
sprayed forms
atomized particles anywhere between 5 microns to 70 microns. It will, however,
be understood
that some of the particles formed by the nozzle can deviate from the size
range above without
departing from the present disclosure.
The nozzles 30 provide a cloud 53 of the dust suppression solution 12 with a
coverage area
corresponding to that of the receiving area 54 of a hopper 50 of a hauling
vehicle 47. In this
embodiment, the duct control system 10 is configured to receive anchor bolts
32 to join the
tank 11 to the hauling vehicle 47. While anchor bolts engaged with the tank
are used in this
example, it is understood that other methods of mounting the dust control
system 10 to the
hauling vehicle 47 can be used without departing from the present disclosure.
In an alternative
embodiment, the dust control system 10 or parts thereof are made integral to
elements of the
hauling vehicle 47, such as a hopper 50 for instance.
The dust control system 10 can use any type of liquid or partly liquid dust
suppression agents,
such as water, water mixed with a blend of polymer(s) or emulsion products,
including but not
limited to vegetal oils, alcohols, glycerol, compound that lower the surface
tension
(surfactants) of the dust suppression solution 12 and compounds that are
present as foams
or produce a foam when released from the tank 11. It will be understood that
in alternate
embodiments of the dust control system 10, the dust suppression solution 12
can be only
water, only suppressant additives or a combination thereof in any quantity
ratio without
departing from the present disclosure.
In another embodiment, there can be only one sprinkler bar having one inlet
along
approximately a middle of its length, extending on both sides of the pump 18,
or, in yet another
embodiment, only one sprinkler bar extending on only one lateral side of the
pump 18.
Attention is now brought to Fig. 4 showing a schematic of another example of a
dust control
system 10 comprising of a tank 11 filled up with a dust suppression solution
12, a temperature
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sensor 14 and a level sensor 16, a pump 18, a controller 21, and sprinkler
bars 22 having
nozzles 30. As can be seen, the pump 18 draws the dust suppression solution 12
from the
tank 11 through a filter 34. The dust suppression solution 12 then flows
through the pump 18,
through a pressure control valve 36 and a 2-way solenoid valve 38 which
directs the dust
.. suppression solution 12 to the sprinkler bars 22 and the corresponding
nozzles 30. The
irrigation intensity can be set via the solenoid valve 38 and pressure control
valve 36 and can
be set either manually or automatically through the controller 21 for
instance.
The dust control system 10 includes a heater system 24, a temperature sensor
14, a level
sensor 16 and a sensing device 40. In this embodiment, the sensing device 40,
the solenoid
.. valve 38 and the pressure control valve 36 are connected to the controller
21. The dust control
system 10 is powered by the vehicle's electrical system (not shown) and can be
fully controlled
by the operator in the vehicle cabin or remotely, via a manual input 42, or
automatically with a
sensing device 40 that provides a sensor input 44, configured to trigger the
dust control system
10 when it is detected 46 that the truck hopper is being or to be loaded or
unloaded.
Still referring to Fig. 4, the controller 21 can receive information from the
different elements of
the dust control system 10. The controller 21 can receive measurement signals,
provide
instruction signals to activate, deactivate and/or adjust settings of any one
or a combination of
the temperature sensor 14, the level sensor 16, the pump 18, the heating
system 24, the
pressure control valve 36 and the solenoid valve 38. For instance, when the
dust suppression
solution 12 in the tank 11 is below 20% of its maximum capacity, the level
sensor 16 can
provide a signal identifying that the tank 11 is low in dust suppression
solution 12. The
controller 21 in the central system 20 can be configured to trigger an alert
such as to alert the
driver for instance, or a central command center, that the tank 11 should be
refilled with the
dust suppression solution 12.
It is understood that the controller 21 is programmable such as to configure
and control the
elements of the dust control system 10 as desired for a given application.
Many embodiments
of the controller 21 can be used without departing from the present disclose.
The controller 21
can be provided as a combination of hardware and software components. The
hardware
components can be implemented in the form of a computing device 60, an example
of which
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is described below with reference to Fig. 6. Moreover, the software components
of the
controller 21 can be implemented in the form of a software application.
In an alternate embodiment, and shown in large, dashed lines in Fig. 4, the
dust control system
can include an air compressor 56 and a compressed air tank 58 which are
fluidly connected
5 to the nozzles 30. The compressed air can be used to propel the dust
suppression solution
12. In a particular example, the nozzles 30 can be air atomizing nozzles
configured to receive
the compressed air from the air tank and which mixes the compressed air from
the air tank 58
with the dust suppression solution 12 of the tank 11 in order to provide a
desired atomized
particle size and desired propulsion properties. It is understood that the
specific configuration
10 of the pressure in the air tank 58 will vary based on the configuration
of the nozzles 30, the
type of solution 12 being sprayed, the pressure of the solution determined by
the pump 18,
pressure control valve 36 and solenoid valve 38, and the desired result, such
as the particle
52 size and the reach (or general distance achieved by particles 52 from the
nozzle 30). For
instance, in an example embodiment, the compressed aid provided by the
compressed air
tank 58 to air atomizing nozzles forming a full cone spray with spray angles
a, p between 60
and 120 will be between 60 to 150 psi.
It is understood that in yet another embodiment, the compressor 56 and air
tank 58 can be
replaced by any other suitable source of compressed air without departing from
the present
disclosure. It is also understood that the use of compressed air as shown in
Fig. 4 is entirely
optional and can be omitted entirely. The compressor and/or air tank, which
can include a
valve, can communicate with and be controlled by the controller 21, such as to
provide
compressed air to the nozzles 30 in coordination with the activation of the
pump 18 which
provides the dust suppression solution 12.
In another embodiment, the dust control system can further include one or a
plurality of fans
(not shown) such to help better propagate the dust suppression solution 12
once expulsed by
the nozzles 30. The use of fans can be useful in increasing the effective
coverage area of the
duct control system 10.
Attention is now brought to Fig. 5, showing a flow chart of an example method
of mitigating
dust during operation of a hauling vehicle 47. The method can begin at step A,
where the
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hauling vehicle 47 is positioned for either loading or unloading. It is
understood that said
positioning is not limited by the movement and placement of the hauling
vehicle 47, but further
comprises the possibility of a loader or unloader moving in relation to the
hauling vehicle 47.
For instance, in certain embodiments, a loading vehicle transporting materials
to be loaded
can approach the hauling vehicle 47. In this case, the hauling vehicle 47 is
still considered to
have been positioned at step A, while not having been displaced.
The method proceeds at step B, wherein the dust control system 10 is
activated, such as to
spray the dust suppression solution 12 and form a cloud 53 of particles 52
along the receiving
area 54 of the hauling vehicle 47. The activation of the dust control system
10 can include the
activation of the pump 18, such as to pump the dust suppression solution 12
towards the
nozzles, propulsing the dust suppression solution 12 from the nozzles 30.
At step C, the hauling vehicle 47 is loaded or unloaded with the desired
material(s). It is at this
step that the majority of the undesirable airborne dust particles are
generated. As the activated
dust control system 10 forms a cloud 53 of particles 52 corresponding to the
receiving area 54
of the hauling vehicle 47, the airborne dust particles formed as the material
is received in the
hopper 50 is intercepted by the particles 52 of the dust suppression solution
12, and are
prevented from dispersing in the surrounding air.
Subsequent to step C, which loads or unloads the material, such as soil or
rock, to or from the
hauling vehicle 47, the dust control system 10 is deactivated at step D. This
can be
accomplished, for instance, by turning off the pump 18. However, it is
understood that in
alternate embodiments this can be accomplished by the closing of the solenoid
valve 38, for
instance.
It is understood that, while Fig. 5 shows steps B and C as being sequentially
completed, in
certain embodiments steps B and C can be completed at the same time. For
instance, in an
embodiment where the dust control system includes a sensing device 40 and has
a controller
21 configured to automatically activate and deactivate the dust control system
10, the pump
18 of the dust control system 10 can be automatically activated by the
controller 21, when the
sensing device 40 detects that a loading or unloading operation is about to
take place.
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In certain embodiments, the controller 21 can be configured to activate the
dust control system
for a predetermined amount of time based on the operation being undertaken.
The central
system 20, or the controller 21 itself, can be equipped with a timer which is
activated when the
sensing device 40 provides a sensor input identifying that the dust control
system 10 should
5 be activated. In such an embodiment, and as shown in Fig. 5, the method
can include the
steps E, F and G. At step E, a sensor input is provided by the sensor device
40, identifying
that the dust control system 10 should be activated. Following this input,
step F activates the
timer which circumscribes the amount of time for which the dust control system
10 will be
activated. The activation of the dust control system at step B, and even the
loading or
10 .. unloading operation at step C, can be completed simultaneously with the
start of the timer at
step F.
After the loading or unloading operation is completed at step C, a delay can
be provided by
the timer, such that the dust control system 10 remains activated until the
timer ends at step
G before proceeding to deactivate the dust control system 10 at step D.
In yet another example, steps B and C can take place only after receiving a
manual user input
at step H identifying that the dust control system 10 should be activated. The
user input can
be provided by the driver of the hauling vehicle for instance, by a user
providing support to the
loading or unloading operation such as a loading vehicle operator or even by a
dispatch
operator, for instance. When the user input is received by the controller 21
at step H, the
activation of the duct control system 10 and the loading or unloading
operation at steps B and
C, respectively, can take place.
Similarly, the dust control system 10 can stay activated until another user
input is provided at
step I, identifying that the dust control system 10 should be deactivated.
Once the user input
of step I is received, the deactivation of the dust control system 10 can be
completed at step
D.
It is understood that the use of the timer and the sensor device 40 can be
combined or used
in parallel with the manual user inputs of steps H and I. For instance, in yet
another
embodiment, the sensor input at step E is used to start a timer at step F and
then activate the
dust control system 10. However, in this example, the material to be loaded or
unloaded at
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step C is of a smaller quantity than an average load, and requires a reduced
amount of time
to be loaded or unloaded to the hauling vehicle 47. In order to avoid wasting
dust suppression
solution 12 by having the dust control system 12 active a period of time
longer than the
required amount of time, a user may supply a user input at step I,
circumventing the wait period
which would otherwise extend until the timer ends at step G, directly
proceeding to deactivate
the dust control system at step D.
In another example, prior to the positioning of the hauling vehicle 47 for a
loading or unloading
operation at step A and any of the subsequent steps B to I, the heating system
24 can be
turned on at step J, to heat the dust suppression solution 12. This can be
done following a
verification with the temperature sensor 14 and activated either manually or
automatically, via
the controller 21 for instance, if the temperature is below a threshold.
It is understood that the use of a dust control system 10 as described above
with the use of a
dust suppression solution 12 in conjunction with a controller 21 permitting
manual or
automatically control while further being configurable to supply a given flow
rate and a given
pressure allows for optimization of the operating time of the dust control
system 10. Such a
dust control system 10 permits to progressively and efficiently deplete the
tank 11 of the dust
suppression solution 12 over various loading and unloading events. For
instance, in an
embodiment having a tank 11 with a volume of 2000 liters, the dust control
system 10 can be
continuously operated approximately for 20 hours per day for 2 to 3 days, for
approximately
10 minutes every hour during every loading and unloading operation, without
requiring the
tank 11 to be refilled.
In addition, the dust control system of the present disclosure has the
advantage of being easy
to install, maintain and operate, while requiring no interrupt the loading,
transport and
unloading processes of the materials.
Fig. 6 shows an example computing device 60 which is an implementation of the
hardware
components the controller 21. The computing device 60 can have a processor 62,
a memory
64, and I/O interface 66. Instructions 68 for controlling the components of
the dust control
system 10 can be stored on the memory 64 and accessible by the processor 62.
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The processor 62 can be, for example, a general-purpose microprocessor or
microcontroller,
a digital signal processing (DSP) processor, an integrated circuit, a field
programmable gate
array (FPGA), a reconfigurable processor, a programmable read-only memory
(PROM), or
any combination thereof.
The memory 64 can include a suitable combination of any type of computer-
readable memory
that is located either internally or externally such as, for example, random-
access memory
(RAM), read-only memory (ROM), compact disc read-only memory (CDROM), electro-
optical
memory, magneto-optical memory, erasable programmable read-only memory
(EPROM), and
electrically-erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), Ferroelectric
RAM
(FRAM) or the like.
Each I/O interface 66 enables the computing device 60 to interconnect with one
or more input
devices, such as the sensing device 40 for instance, or with one or more
output devices such
as the pump 18, pressure control valve 36, and/or the solenoid valve 38, for
instance.
Each I/O interface 66 enables the controller 21 to communicate with other
components, to
exchange data with other components, to access and connect to network
resources, to serve
applications, and perform other computing applications by connecting to a
network (or multiple
networks) capable of carrying data including the Internet, Ethernet, plain old
telephone service
(POTS) line, public switch telephone network (PSTN), integrated services
digital network
(ISDN), digital subscriber line (DSL), coaxial cable, fiber optics, satellite,
mobile, wireless (e.g.
Wi-Fi, VViMAX), SS7 signaling network, fixed line, local area network, wide
area network, and
others, including any combination of these.
As can be understood, the examples described above and illustrated are
intended to be
exemplary only. For instance, the term hauling vehicle is not be construed as
limited in any
way and can includes vehicles such as mining trucks, trailers or any other
vehicle capable of
hauling material. Other suitable embodiments can also be provided, as it will
be apparent to
the skilled reader. The scope is indicated by the appended claims.
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