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Chalaturnyk, R. J., Scott, J. D., & Ozum, B. (2002). Management of Oil Sands Tailings. Pet. Sci. Technol., 20(9-10), 1025–1046.
Abstract: In Alberta, oil sands bitumen is utilized for synthetic crude oil (SCO) production by surface mining, bitumen extraction followed by primary (coking) and secondary (catalytic hydro-treating) upgrading processes. SCO is further refined in specially designed or slightly modified conventional refineries into transportation fuels. Oil sands tailings, composed of water, sands, silt, clay and residual bitumen, is produced as a byproduct of the bitumen extraction process. The tailings have poor consolidation and Water release characteristics. For twenty years, significant research has been performed to improve the consolidation and water release characteristics of the tailings. Several processes were developed for the management of oil sands tailings, resulting in different recovered water characteristics, consolidation rates and consolidated solid characteristics. These processes may affect the performance of the overall plant operations. Apex Engineering Inc. (AEI) has been developing a process for, thesame purpose. In this process oil sands tailings are treated with Ca(OH)(2) lime and CO2 and thickened using a suitable thickener. The combination of chemical treatment and the use of a thickener results in the release of process water in short retention times without accumulation of any ions in the recovered water. This makes it possible to recycle the recovered water, probably after a chemical treatment, as warm as possible, which improves the thermal efficiency of the extraction process. The AEI Process can be applied in many different fashions for the management of different fractions of the tailings effluent, depending on the overall plant operating priorities.
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Harrington, J. M. (2002). In situ treatment of metals in mine workings and materials. Tailings and Mine Waste '02, , 251–261.
Abstract: Contact of oxygen contained in air and water with mining materials can increase the solubility of metals. In heaps leached by cyanide, metals can also be made soluble through complexation with cyanide. During closure, water in heaps, and water collected in mine workings and pit lakes may require treatment to remove these metals. In situ microbiological treatment to create reductive conditions and to precipitate metals as sulfides or elemental metal has been applied at several sites with good success. Treatment by adding organic carbon to stimulate in situ microbial reduction has been successful in removing arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, iron, lead, manganese, mercury, nickel, selenium, silver, tin, uranium, and zinc to a solid phase. Closure practices can affect the success of in situ treatment at mining sites, and affect the stability of treated materials. This paper defines factors that determine the cost and permanence of in situ treatment.
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Arango, I. (2002). Evaluation of the beneficial effects of the acidophilic alga Euglena mutabilis on acid mine drainage systems. Ph.D. thesis, Indiana State University,, Terre Haute.
Abstract: Euglena mutabilis is an acidophilic, photosynthetic protozoan that forms benthic mats in acid mine drainage (AMD) channels. At the Green Valley mine, western Indiana, E. mutabilis resides in AMD measuring <4.2 pH, with high concentrations of dissolved constituents (up to 22.67 g/l). One of the main factors influencing E. mutabilis distribution is water temperature. The microbe forms thick (>1 mm), extensive mats during spring and fall, when water temperature is between 13 and 28 degrees C. During winter and summer, when temperatures are outside this range, benthic communities have a very patchy distribution and are restricted to areas protected from extreme temperature changes. E. mutabilis also responds to rapid increases in pH, which are associated with rainfall events. During these events pH can increase above 4.0, causing precipitation of Fe and Al oxy-hydroxides that cover the mats. The microbe responds by moving through the precipitates, due to phototaxis, and reestablishing the community at the sediment-water interface within 12 hours. The biological activities of E. mutabilis may have a beneficial effect on AMD systems by removing iron from effluent via oxygenic photosynthesis, and/or by internal sequestration. Photosynthesis by E. mutabilis contributes elevated concentrations of dissolved oxygen (DO), up to 17.25 mg/l in the field and up to 11.83 mg/l in the laboratory, driving oxidation and precipitation of reduced metal species, especially Fe (II), which are dissolved in the effluent. In addition, preliminary electro-microscopic and staining analyses of the reddish intracellular granules in E. mutabilis indicate that the granules contain iron, suggesting that E. mutabilis sequesters iron from AMD. Inductive coupled plasma analysis of iron concentration in AMD with and without E. mutabilis also shows that E. mutabilis accelerates the rate of Fe removal from the media. Whether iron removal is accelerated by internal sequestration of iron and/or by precipitation via oxygenic photosynthesis has yet to be determined. These biological activities may play an important role in the natural remediation of AMD systems.
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Fischer, R., Luckner, L., Peukert, D., Reißig, H., & Roßbach, B. (2002). Einsatz alkalischer Substanzen zur Verbesserung der Wasserqualität in Bergbaukippen. Use of alcine substances for the improvement of water quality in mining areas. Das Gas und Wasserfach. Ausgabe Wasser, Abwasser, 143(12), 891–898.
Abstract: Eisendisulfidminerale im Abraum von Braunkohlentagebauen können nach ihrer Verwitterung im wiederaufsteigenden Grundwasser erhebliche Güteverschlechterungen hinsichtlich pH-Wert, Schwermetall- und Sulfatgehalt verursachen. Diesen kann durch Zusätze alkalischer Substanzen zum Abraum wie Kalkstein, Dolomit und Kraftwerksasche bzw. Gemischen dieser Stoffe entgegengewirkt werden. Die Ergebnisse entsprechender Untersuchungen sowie die naturwissenschaftlichen Grundlagen der Eisendisulfidverwitterung werden im Beitrag dargestellt und ein Anwendungsbeispiel beschrieben. Grundlagen zur Berechnung der einzusetzenden Kalk- oder Aschemengen (bzw. Gemische der beiden Substanzen) sind die Bestimmung der oxidierbaren Sulfidminerale in den einzelnen geologischen Schichten sowie die Bestimmung der Pufferkapazität der Asche bzw. des Kalksteins. Besonders Vorteilhaft ist der Einsatz alkalischer Substanzen dort, wo durch vorhandene hohe Pyrit- und Markasitkonzentrationen mit einer erheblichen Versauerung des Grundwassers gerechnet und dadurch eine potentielle Beeinträchtigung von Grundwassernutzern erwartet werden muss. Solche Bedingungen sind im Rheinischen Braunkohlerevier, insbesondere im Umfeld des Tagebaus Garzweiler II (RWE Rheinbraun AG) gegeben. Derzeit werden im Tagebau Garzweiler bereits 40000 t Kalkstein dem Abraum beigemischt. Auch für das Lausitzer Braunkohlenrevier könnte ein Einsatz alkalischer Substanzen in Betracht gezogen werden.
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Cravotta, C. A., III, Watzlaf, G. R., Naftz, D. L., Morrison, S. J., Fuller, C. C., & Davis, J. A. (2002). Design and performance of limestone drains to increase pH and remove metals from acidic mine drainage Handbook of groundwater remediation using permeable reactive barriers; applications to radionuclides, trace metals, and nutrients.. Amsterdam: Academic Press.
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