Treatment of acid mine drainage with coal fly ash in a jet loop reactor pilot plant
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Date
2020
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Minerals Engineering
Abstract
A 1500 L batch jet loop reactor pilot plant was designed, constructed, and evaluated for performance in the treatment of acid mine drainage (AMD) using coal fly ash with a view to optimize its operation and generate performance data. Results showed that concentration of major contaminants (sulfate, Al, Fe, Ca, Mg), and minor contaminants in the treated AMD can be significantly lowered (between one and four orders of magnitude) compared to the raw AMD. It was shown that the one-step treatment process recovered at least 66.6% (728.56 kg) of treated water depending on the degree of dewatering required for slurry pumping. The energy consumption of 2.655 kW used for pumping indicated that an oversized centrifugal pump (15 kW capacity) was used for the neutralization cycle, as only a small fraction of the pump capacity was utilized. The treated water met the target water quality range (TWQR) limit for agricultural irrigation in South Africa. The analysis of the
solid residue shows its suitability for backfilling of mine voids or for making geopolymer such that AMD treatment with fly ash results in a zero discharge process. The treatment process offers a cradle-to-cradle solution to acid mine drainage and coal fly ash.
Description
Keywords
Acid mine drainage, Neutralization, Fly ash, Jet loop reactor pilot plant
Citation
Kalombe, R.M. et al. (2020) 159.Minerals Engineering. Treatment of acid mine drainage with coal fly ash in a jet loop reactor pilot plant