Reutilisation of Water Contaminated by Mining Waste for the Encapsulation of Potentially Toxic Elements

Abstract

Mining activities are essential for a population’s development; however, they also produce negative effects such as the production of waste, an impact on flora and water pollution. On the other hand, construction is one of the sectors which is most demanding of raw materials, with one of the main such materials being water. For this reason, this research evaluates the feasibility of incorporating water contaminated by mining waste into ceramic materials for bricks. In this way, the use of water is reduced and, on the other hand, the contaminating elements of the mining water are encapsulated in the ceramic matrix. To achieve this, the clay used and the contaminated water were first analysed, then different families of samples were conformed with different percentages of contaminated water. These samples were tested to determine their physical and mechanical properties. At the same time, leachate tests were carried out to determine that the ceramic material created did not cause environmental problems. The test results showed that the physical and mechanical properties of the ceramics were not influenced by the addition of contaminated water. On the other hand, the leachate tests showed that encapsulation of most of the potentially toxic elements occurred. However, the use of contaminated water as mixing water for ceramics could only be performed up to 60%, as higher percentages would leach impermissible arsenic concentrations. Accordingly, a new way of reusing water contaminated by mining activities is developed in this study, taking advantage of resources, avoiding environmental pollution and creating economic and environmentally friendly end products.

Factor Analysis of the Physical–Mechanical Properties for Geopolymers Based on Brick Dust and Biomass Bottom Ash as Eco-Friendly Building Materials

“…On the other hand, it can be observed how the linear shrinkage of the specimens increases in line with the increase in the percentage of biomass bottom ash used, highlighting family A, which has a linear shrinkage percentage totally different from the other families as it does not contain ash. The results obtained are adequate, since the variation in dimensions is very small when compared to the linear shrinkage experienced by the family made with red clay, this linear shrinkage being 2.7% [48].…”

Ceramics for Building Structures Made from Contaminated Soils: A Fuzzy Logic Intelligence Approach to Circular Mining

“…On the other hand, in order to corroborate that the potentially toxic elements of the contaminated soil are retained in the ceramic matrix, the TCLP test was developed, as mentioned in the methodology of [29]. Thus, it can be confirmed that the objective of this research, which is none other than to prevent contaminated soil from producing a significant environmental impact, has been achieved.…”

“…Moreover, since the primary objective of this research study is to reuse contaminated soil and prevent its environmental contamination, demonstrating that the ceramic matrix can effectively retain potentially toxic elements present in the soil and prevent their leaching is necessary. To achieve this, leaching tests were conducted on all ceramic families with varying percentages of contaminated soil using the TCLP method [29]. The ceramics were crushed to a size smaller than 10 mm, and the specified method was followed to obtain leachate from each ceramic family.…”

Analysis of Hardening Characteristics of Aged Concrete Prepared with Highly Mineralized Mine Water—A Mine in the Ordos Mining Area Is Taken as an Example

“…The water quality analysis of seven seepage wells in the Zibo mining area shows that the content of pyrite in coal is high, and some coal mine water in the Xinwen mining area has a high mineralization degree. According to a survey of 38 coal mines in the Shanxi, Huanglong, Shendong, and Ningdong mining areas [ 14 , 15 , 16 ], experimental research [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ], and literature reviews [ 21 , 22 ], mine water in these regions has a high mineralization degree. Based on the actual properties of mine water from the Ningdong base, Bian et al [ 23 ] put forward a development direction for treating mine water with a high mineralization degree that focuses on overcoming technical difficulties such as reasonable site selection, equipment integration, and safety guarantee.…”