Review on Treatment of Acid Mine Drainage with Waste Materials: A Novel Approach

Abstract

<p>The present study systematically and comprehensively reviewed different aspects of treating Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) with active treatment and waste materials. The work also critically reviews the status and the factors associated with the treatment process. Although, conventional active methods are very efficient but they are mainly associated with costly material as well as high maintenance cost which enhances the cost of entire treatment system. Waste materials such as fly ash, metallurgical slag, zero valent iron (ZVI), cement kiln dust (CKD), organic waste such as peat humic agent (PHA) and rice husk can be efficiently used for the treatment of AMD. However, efficiency of different waste material varied from each other due to the variation in their physical and chemical characteristics. The results from the investigation showed that fly ash, metallurgical slag and CKD raise the pH of acidic solution more, in comparison to ZVI and organic waste, due to their richness in lime content. Furthermore, fly ash can be efficiently converted and utilized in its other derivative such as chemically modified fly ash and zeolite. Efficiency of ZVI is hindered by the presence of higher concentration of total dissolved solids. PHA can treat AMD that is mild acidic in nature. Besides, long retention time is required for the removal of heavy metals and sulfur with organic waste and sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB). The study also potentially reviewed that metal removal from AMD varied due to composition of AMD and the characteristics of waste materials. However, waste materials demand more attention for its practical applicability in field conditions due to its richness, higher possibility for recycling and reuse, low installation cost and harmless nature towards the environment.</p>

Comparative MCDM Analysis for AMD Treatment Method Selection

“…As it was said earlier, there are numerous wastewater treatment methods that can be equally efficient in terms of quality of obtained water. All of them have some advantages or disadvantages compared to each other (Saha and Sinha 2018), therefore, it is difficult to determine which one is the most appropriate for treatment of particular wastewater.…”

Acid mine drainage (AMD) contamination in coal mines and the need for extensive prediction and remediation: a review

“…Several AMD passive treatment approaches have been developed in the last 3 decades, where the main concern is the search for an adequate alkaline remediation material. Factors such as neutralization potential, cost, proximity to the mine and quantity required provide the lead for the choice of an alkaline material (Saha and Sinha, 2018). Despite the recognition of limestone as an abundant neutralising agent of choice for AMD treatments, previous research works on its use report that its neutralization rate is limited by high metal concentration in solution particularly by slowing down its dissolution rates.…”

Adsorptive behaviour of rutile phased titania nanoparticles supported on acid-modified kaolinite clay for the removal of selected heavy metal ions from mining wastewater

“…These pollutants are released as by-products from the operations of metallurgy, electroplating, painting, pharmaceutical and mining industries (Wang et al 2021). Mining, as an economic activity has contributed greatly to the GDP growth of several countries (Acheampong and Ansa 2017;Wang et al 2021) however there is an attendant challenge of pollution especially the release of wastewater containing heavy metals causing severe damage to the water resources (Saha and Sinha 2018). Heavy metals which includes Mn, Pb, Ni, Fe, Cu, Cd, Cr with other physicochemical parameters like; turbidity, sulphate, phosphate, nitrate, COD, BOD are the major characteristics of an abandoned mining site wastewater (Bwapa et al 2017;Ojonimi et al 2019).…”