Radium removal from mine waters in underground treatment installations

Chałupnik, Stanisław; Wysocka, M.

doi:10.1016/j.jenvrad.2007.12.024

Cited by 16 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…These mine waters are generally alkaline, but have elevated concentrations of sodium, chloride, and sulphate (Pluta and Zuber 1995). Radium is also often present in waters with low sulphate concentrations (Chalupnik and Wysocka 2008).…”

Section: Polandmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Overview of Priority Pollutants in Selected Coal Mine Discharges in Europe

et al. 2018

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Coal mine water discharges in several European countries were investigated as part of the European Commission's MANAGER project. The emphasis of the project was identification of priority pollutants and potential remedial approaches. The main identified priority pollutants were sulphate (all countries) and iron (all countries except Greece). High concentrations of chloride (particularly in Germany and Poland) were associated with discharge of saline mine waters linked to the presence of fossil sea water; these mine waters also had high boron concentrations, in contrast to chloride-rich waters in UK that are linked to recent sea water inflow. Concentrations of trace metals vary among countries, but radium is an important contaminant in barium-rich waters with low sulphate concentrations, essentially in Poland. Concentrations of trace metals and metalloids were generally low because of their relative scarcity in coal strata and adsorption onto ferric oxides and hydroxides, but they still often exceeded the environmental quality thresholds.

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Section: Polandmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Overview of Priority Pollutants in Selected Coal Mine Discharges in Europe

et al. 2018

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“…Baryte is considered a relatively stable mineral [60,61] and it should not release radium after the closure of mines and their flooding. Therefore, the spontaneous precipitation of Ra-rich baryte is the natural analogue of the treatment method tested by [62] for radium removal from mine waters. However, radium that is fixed in baryte could be released by activities of sulfate-reducing bacteria [63], reported from both laboratory [64][65][66] and field [66] environments.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The spontaneous fixation of 226 Ra in Ra-rich baryte due to the mixing of waters of different chemical nature is beneficial if it occurs underground, because the radium is fixed far from possible entry points to biogenic cycles or contact with living organisms. Experiments have shown that similar processes, i.e., blending Ra-bearing fluids with acid mine drainage (AMD) waters, could be used to remove radium and barium from hydraulic fracturing fluids [68] or mine waters [62]. However, the evaluation of radiation hazards for miners would require a separate study, since there are many factors that affect the precise place of baryte precipitation, presence of miners at those locations, and handling with the material containing precipitate.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High Specific Activity of Radium Isotopes in Baryte from the Czech Part of the Upper Silesian Basin—An Example of Spontaneous Mine Water Treatment

et al. 2020

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Radium-bearing barytes (radiobarytes) have been known since the beginning of the 20th century. They are mainly found as precipitates of low-temperature hydrothermal solutions. In anthropogenic environments, they frequently occur as crusts on oil industry equipment used for borehole extraction, in leachates from uranium mill tailings, and as a by-product of phosphoric acid manufacturing. Recently, we recognized Ra-rich baryte as a precipitate in the water drainage system of a bituminous coal mine in the Czech part of the Upper Silesian Basin. The precipitate is a relatively pure baryte, with the empirical formula (Ba0.934Sr0.058Ca0.051Mg0.003)Σ1.046S0.985O4.000. The mean specific activity of 226Ra was investigated by the two-sample method and it equals 39.62(22) Bq/g, a level that exceeds known natural occurrences. The values for 228Ra and 224Ra are 23.39(26) Bq/g and 11.03(25) Bq/g. The radium content in the baryte is 1.071 ng/g. It is clear that the Ra-rich baryte results from the mixing of two different mine waters—brines rich in Ba, Sr, and isotopes 226Ra and 228Ra and waters that are affected by sulfide weathering in mine works. When this mixing occurs in surface watercourses, it could present a serious problem due to the half-life of 226Ra, which is 1600 years. If such mixing spontaneously happens in a mine, then the environmental risks will be much lower and will be, to a great, extent eliminated after the closure of the mine.

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“…In the last decade, the decrease of radium activity in discharged underground waters is mainly due to the purification of B-type brines in Piast Colliery which started in 1999 and the construction of another treatment station in Ziemowit mine in 2006. In Piast mine, the implementation of the treatment technology on deeper horizons in the mine caused the decrease of radium release from the mine to the level of 150 MBq/day to 60 MBq/day of 226 Ra and 90 MBq/day of 228 Ra (Chałupnik and Wysocka 2008 ). Similar results have been achieved in the second underground coal mine, Ziemowit.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In non-uranium industries, like coal mining, radium removal from mine water is not very common (Patent 1996 ; Chałupnik and Wysocka 2008 ). It may be important in oil and gas exploitation but mostly due to the technical problem with scaling of pipelines; therefore, removal of radium (together with non-radioactive barium and strontium) is done (Abo-Elmagd et al 2010 ), or just the opposite—special chemicals are used to prevent this process (Varskog et al 2004 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of zeolites for radium removal from mine water

Chałupnik

Franus

Wysocka

et al. 2013

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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For removal of radium from saline waters in Upper Silesian mines, several methods of purification have been developed. The most efficient one is based on application of barium chloride, which was implemented in full technical scale in two Polish coal mines several years ago. Very good results of purification have been achieved—the removal efficiency exceeding 95 % of the initial activity. Another possibility for the removal of different ions from salty waters and brines is the application of zeolites. We found that technique as a very promising method for removal of not only radium isotopes from mine waters but also other ions (barium, iron, manganese). Treatment of several various water samples has been done to assess the removal efficiency for natural radionuclides. Preliminary results show very good effects for radium isotopes as well as for barium ions. In the paper, a short description of laboratory results of the purification of mine waters with application of synthetic zeolites is presented.

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Radium removal from mine waters in underground treatment installations

Cited by 16 publications

References 1 publication

An Overview of Priority Pollutants in Selected Coal Mine Discharges in Europe

An Overview of Priority Pollutants in Selected Coal Mine Discharges in Europe

High Specific Activity of Radium Isotopes in Baryte from the Czech Part of the Upper Silesian Basin—An Example of Spontaneous Mine Water Treatment

Application of zeolites for radium removal from mine water

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