Remediation of acid mine drainage
01 Dec 2019-Environmental Chemistry Letters (Springer International Publishing)-Vol. 17, Iss: 4, pp 1529-1538
TL;DR: In this article, the authors review several treatment options such as selective metal precipitation, adsorption, electrochemical processes and membrane processes for acid mine drainage, and conclude that membrane processes are the most promising according to lab-scale results, notably because high quality water is obtained.
Abstract: Acid mine drainage induced by the mining industry causes environmental and economic issues. Acid mine drainage contains mainly metals such as Fe, Al, Cu, Ca, Mg, Mn and Zn. Preventing the formation of acid mine drainage has not been found feasible. As a consequence, remediation treatments have been developed during the last years to remove metals and obtain high-quality water, which may be reused. We review here several treatment options such as selective metal precipitation, adsorption, electrochemical processes and membrane processes. Adsorption is the most employed commercially since it can recover 99% of the metals. Membrane processes are promising according to lab-scale results, notably because high-quality water is obtained. Further research is necessary to implement combination of technologies, e.g., adsorption membrane, at larger scales, as well as to obtain more valuable products that can balance the overall economy for the mining industry.
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TL;DR: In this article, a broad spectrum of treatment methods that have been engaged in published literature on the remediation of acid mine drainage has been evaluated, and it is recommended that more preventive techniques be explored to reduce the production of AMD.
66 citations
TL;DR: This study proposes three more sustainable solutions for reducing and eventually eliminating the impact of AMD with less capital investment while also resolving the landfill problem as well.
57 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a review thoroughly discusses sorption and precipitation as main processes for rare earth elements (REE) removal from synthetic and real mine water, and Nanofiltration and bioaccumulation are also presented as pre-concentration steps prior to the treatment.
55 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a review describes the mechanism of formation and the effects of acid mine drainage (AMD), presents the prevention and treatment technologies, identifies critical research gaps, and explores the challenges and opportunities encountered by AMD.
42 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a review of the use of HBC for managing a wide variety of biomass-wastes and obtaining value-added products such as gases, liquids and solids.
Abstract: The replacement of traditional and non-renewable resources by shifting towards renewable-based strategies is a strategy implemented by the European Union for a circular economy-based society. Among the various methods to produce renewable biofuels, hydrothermal carbonization is promising in terms of waste management. This technology involves thermochemical treatment of wastes at lower emperatures than other common thermal treatments such as pyrolysis or gasification. Here we review hydrothermal carbonization for managing a wide variety of biomass–wastes and obtaining value-added products. Three types of products are obtained: gases, liquids and solids. The solid carbonized product is the main product, which can be used for many applications, highlighting its use as substitute for fossil coal. Nonetheless, actual commercial plants hardly reach profitability by considering only the solid products. Therefore, this review focus on the integration of other processes. For instance, anaerobic digestion, catalytic conversion of gaseous streams and membrane technology for liquid concentration appear as the most interesting options to valorize all the products generated during hydrothermal carbonization.
41 citations
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