3 Water Quality Issues in the Eastern U.S. I

Monday, 15 April 2024
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Windsor Ballroom Salon B

NEW ENHANCED EVAPORATION TECHNOLOGY AS A POTENTIAL REMEDIATION STRATEGY FOR ACID ROCK DRAINAGE

Paper number: 3-4
Program: Theme Sessions
Time: 8:45 AM – 9:05 AM

Authors

Abstract

Acid rock drainage (ARD) is a global water quality issue at active and historic mine operations, including coal mines and coal processing sites in Appalachia. Low-quality ARD water was sampled from a historic coal processing site in Kentucky to determine the efficacy of a new enhanced evaporation technology by Micronic Technologies, Inc. for the treatment of ARD. Samples were analyzed for pH, dissolved metals, and sulfate prior to treatment and after treatment. Results indicate 84% to >99% removal of dissolved solutes, and an increase in pH from pH 2.35 to pH 6.03. Example dissolved metals that were removed include aluminum (132 mg/L to 0.25 mg/L; 99.8% decrease), cadmium (0.0051 mg/L to <0.0005 mg/L; >90.2% decrease), chromium (0.0902 mg/L to 0.0096 mg/L; 89.4% decrease), cobalt (0.282 mg/L to <0.002 mg/L; >99.3% decrease), iron (150 mg/L to 0.266 mg/L; 99.8% decrease), manganese (5.25 mg/L to 0.01676 mg/L; 99.7% decrease), nickel (0.647 mg/L to 0.008 mg/L; 98.8% decrease), and zinc (1.84 mg/L to 0.05 mg/L; 97.28% decrease). The neutralization of acidity and successful removal of solutes suggests a strong potential for use of the technology for ARD remediation. Future research includes use of the technology to concentrate rare earth elements and other elements that can be recovered for use in batteries and electronics.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 56, No. 2

doi: 10.1130/abs/2024SE-398590

© Copyright 2024 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to the author(s) of this abstract to reproduce and distribute it freely, for noncommercial purposes. Permission is hereby granted to any individual scientist to download a single copy of this electronic file and reproduce up to 20 paper copies for noncommercial purposes advancing science and education, including classroom use, providing all reproductions include the complete content shown here, including the author information. All other forms of reproduction and/or transmittal are prohibited without written permission from GSA Copyright Permissions.