Long term remediation of highly polluted acid mine drainage: A sustainable approach to restore the environmental quality of the Odiel river basin

During 20 months of proper operation the full scale passive treatment in Mina Esperanza (SW Spain) produced around 100 mg/L of ferric iron in the aeration cascades, removing an average net acidity up to 1500 mg/L as CaCO3 and not having any significant clogging problem. Complete Al, As, Cd, Cr, Cu,...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Caraballo Monge, Manuel Antonio, Macías Suárez, Francisco, Rötting, Tobías S., Nieto Liñán, José Miguel, Ayora, Carlos
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2011
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Huelva (UHU)
Repositorio:Arias Montano. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ariasmontano.uhu.es:10272/23141
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10272/23141
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Acid mine drainage
Passive treatment system
Iberian Pyrite Belt
Schwertmannite
Hydrobasaluminite
33 Ciencias Tecnológicas
Descripción
Sumario:During 20 months of proper operation the full scale passive treatment in Mina Esperanza (SW Spain) produced around 100 mg/L of ferric iron in the aeration cascades, removing an average net acidity up to 1500 mg/L as CaCO3 and not having any significant clogging problem. Complete Al, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ti and V removal from the water was accomplished through almost the entire operation time while Fe removal ranged between 170 and 620 mg/L. The system operated at a mean inflow rate of 43 m3/day achieving an acid load reduction of 597 g·(m2 day)−1, more than 10 times higher than the generally accepted 40 g·(m2 day)−1 value commonly used as a passive treatment system designing criteria. The high performance achieved by the passive treatment system at Mina Esperanza demonstrates that this innovative treatment design is a simple, efficient and long lasting remediation option to treat highly polluted acid mine drainage.