Exploring sulfate and metals removal from Andean acid mine drainage using CaCO3-rich residues from agri-food industries and witherite (BaCO3)

Dispersed alkaline substrate (DAS) is a matured passive remediation technology that has shown very high performances treating acid mine drainages (AMD). However, this remediation approach needs to improve its environmental footprint as well as to ensure almost complete water sulfate removals for lon...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Larraguibel, Alfonso, Navarrete Calvo, Álvaro, García, Sebastián, Armijos, Víctor F., Caraballo Monge, Manuel Antonio
Formato: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2020
País:España
Recursos:Universidad de Huelva (UHU)
Repositorio:Arias Montano. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ariasmontano.uhu.es:10272/23095
Acesso em linha:https://hdl.handle.net/10272/23095
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Dispersed alkaline substrate
Malachite
Acid mine drainage
Seashells
Passive treatment system
33 Ciencias Tecnológicas
Descrição
Resumo:Dispersed alkaline substrate (DAS) is a matured passive remediation technology that has shown very high performances treating acid mine drainages (AMD). However, this remediation approach needs to improve its environmental footprint as well as to ensure almost complete water sulfate removals for longs periods of time. The present study improves the use of witherite (BaCO3) as a reagent on DAS-type treatments to induce highwater sulfate removals in the context of Andean AMD. Also, three CaCO3-rich residues from the agri-food industry were tested as alternatives to the current use of limestone. Two sets of column experiments were developed with various flow rates (1.5–5.4 L/day), net acidities (202 and 404 mg/L as CaCO3 eq.) and reactive agents (calcite, eggshells, seashells and witherite). Seashells were validated as a perfect limestone substitutes on the CaCO3-DAS stages. Malachite was observed, for the first time within these columns, as a mineral phase actively involved in Cu water removal. The BaCO3-DAS columns achieved values under 500 mg/L of sulfate at the output of the system for up to 6 months (initial sulfate concentration ranged 1234–2468 mg/L). Upscaling calculations of the present results support the feasibility of using this technology at a full field scale, especially as a wastewater treatment for abandoned mine sites, although some strategies to reduce witherite costs are recommended.