Abstract
Metal removal and neutralization of acid mine drainage (AMD) in treatment systems is often controlled by addition of alkaline reagents and metal hydrolysis reactions. To overcome the disadvantage of high cost by conventional treatments, the use of paper mill wastes was evaluated as an alkaline additive to treat AMD at sites within the Iberian Pyrite Belt (IPB) through batch experiments in the laboratory. Paper wastes include three by-products from kraft pulping in a nearby mill: green liquor dregs, slacker grits, and lime mud. When paper mill wastes interacted with AMD, the initial pH increased up to circumneutral values and enhanced greatly the metal removal, reaching average ratios of up to 100% for Al, 98% for Fe, and 66% for Zn (major elements) and 100% for As, Cr, and Cu, 84% for Cd, and 75% for Ni (minor elements). After reaction, gypsum and poorly crystalline Fe-Al oxy-hydroxides and oxy-hydroxysulfates were the main precipitates identified by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. Trace metal uptake is mainly attributed to co-precipitation and/or adsorption onto the newly formed Fe-Al precipitates. Geochemical modeling of solutions using the PHREEQC code predicted supersaturation of the observed phases. The experimental results were optimized with the PHREEQC code and combined with the annual production of each waste to quantify the extent of a possible treatment at field-scale. According to our estimations, the system proposed is able to treat effectively an annual total volume of 11.6 hm3, which is equivalent to a mean discharge of 368 L/s. Green liquor dregs alone would be able to treat 86% of the total volume. This result demonstrates the possibility of using alkaline paper mill wastes for treatment and restoration of worldwide natural resources extremely contaminated by AMD such as the IPB.
© 2015 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Comparative in situ X-ray diffraction study of San Carlos olivine: Influence of water on the 410 km seismic velocity jump in Earth’s mantle
- Visualizing trace element distribution in quartz using cathodoluminescence, electron microprobe, and laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry
- Krotite, CaAl2O4, a new refractory mineral from the NWA 1934 meteorite
- Translation interface modulation in NC-pyrrhotites: Direct imaging by TEM and a model toward understanding partially disordered structural states
- Crystal chemistry of Ti-rich fluorophlogopite from Presidente Olegario, Alto Paranaíba igneous province, Brazil
- First-principles study of diffusion and viscosity of anorthite (CaAl2Si2O8) liquid at high pressure
- Aluminous and alkali-deficient tourmaline from the Singhbhum Shear Zone, East Indian shield: Insight for polyphase boron infiltration during regional metamorphism
- Effect of lactate, glycine, and citrate on the kinetics of montmorillonite dissolution
- Acid neutralization by dissolution of alkaline paper mill wastes and implications for treatment of sulfide-mine drainage
- Fast ion conduction character and ionic phase-transition in silver sulfosalts: The case of fettelite [Ag6As2S7][Ag10HgAs2S8]
- Structure of walstromite, BaCa2Si3O9, and its relationship to CaSiO3-walstromite and wollastonite-II
- Cathodoluminescence properties and trace element signature of hydrothermal quartz: A fingerprint of growth dynamics
- Formation conditions for triple-chain silicates
- In situ determination of the spinel–post-spinel transition in Fe3O4 at high pressure and temperature by synchrotron X-ray diffraction
- PVT equation of state of epsilon iron and its densities at inner core conditions
- Pressure-induced structural phase transition of the iron end-member of ringwoodite (g-Fe2SiO4) investigated by X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy
- Non-bridging oxygen and high-coordinated aluminum in metaluminous and peraluminous calcium and potassium aluminosilicate glasses: High-resolution 17O and 27Al MAS NMR results
- The crystal structure of δ-Al(OH)3: Neutron diffraction measurements and ab initio calculations
- Electrical properties of natural and synthetic nano-crystalline MgTiO3 geikielite at mantle pressure and temperature conditions
- Density measurement of liquid FeS at high pressures using synchrotron X-ray absorption
- Cranswickite MgSO4·4H2O, a new mineral from Calingasta, Argentina
- Ambrinoite, (K,NH4)2(As,Sb)8S13·H2O, a new mineral from Upper Susa Valley, Piedmont, Italy: The first natural (K,NH4)-hydrated sulfosalt
- Single-crystal Raman spectroscopy of natural schafarzikite FeSb2O4 from Pernek, Slovak Republic
- Nomenclature of the tourmaline-supergroup minerals
- Quantitative Raman spectroscopy: Challenges, shortfalls, and solutions—Application to calcium silicate glasses
- Icosahedrite, Al63Cu24Fe13, the first natural quasicrystal
- Sulfides from martian and lunar basalts: Comparative chemistry for Ni, Co, Cu, and Se
Articles in the same Issue
- Comparative in situ X-ray diffraction study of San Carlos olivine: Influence of water on the 410 km seismic velocity jump in Earth’s mantle
- Visualizing trace element distribution in quartz using cathodoluminescence, electron microprobe, and laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry
- Krotite, CaAl2O4, a new refractory mineral from the NWA 1934 meteorite
- Translation interface modulation in NC-pyrrhotites: Direct imaging by TEM and a model toward understanding partially disordered structural states
- Crystal chemistry of Ti-rich fluorophlogopite from Presidente Olegario, Alto Paranaíba igneous province, Brazil
- First-principles study of diffusion and viscosity of anorthite (CaAl2Si2O8) liquid at high pressure
- Aluminous and alkali-deficient tourmaline from the Singhbhum Shear Zone, East Indian shield: Insight for polyphase boron infiltration during regional metamorphism
- Effect of lactate, glycine, and citrate on the kinetics of montmorillonite dissolution
- Acid neutralization by dissolution of alkaline paper mill wastes and implications for treatment of sulfide-mine drainage
- Fast ion conduction character and ionic phase-transition in silver sulfosalts: The case of fettelite [Ag6As2S7][Ag10HgAs2S8]
- Structure of walstromite, BaCa2Si3O9, and its relationship to CaSiO3-walstromite and wollastonite-II
- Cathodoluminescence properties and trace element signature of hydrothermal quartz: A fingerprint of growth dynamics
- Formation conditions for triple-chain silicates
- In situ determination of the spinel–post-spinel transition in Fe3O4 at high pressure and temperature by synchrotron X-ray diffraction
- PVT equation of state of epsilon iron and its densities at inner core conditions
- Pressure-induced structural phase transition of the iron end-member of ringwoodite (g-Fe2SiO4) investigated by X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy
- Non-bridging oxygen and high-coordinated aluminum in metaluminous and peraluminous calcium and potassium aluminosilicate glasses: High-resolution 17O and 27Al MAS NMR results
- The crystal structure of δ-Al(OH)3: Neutron diffraction measurements and ab initio calculations
- Electrical properties of natural and synthetic nano-crystalline MgTiO3 geikielite at mantle pressure and temperature conditions
- Density measurement of liquid FeS at high pressures using synchrotron X-ray absorption
- Cranswickite MgSO4·4H2O, a new mineral from Calingasta, Argentina
- Ambrinoite, (K,NH4)2(As,Sb)8S13·H2O, a new mineral from Upper Susa Valley, Piedmont, Italy: The first natural (K,NH4)-hydrated sulfosalt
- Single-crystal Raman spectroscopy of natural schafarzikite FeSb2O4 from Pernek, Slovak Republic
- Nomenclature of the tourmaline-supergroup minerals
- Quantitative Raman spectroscopy: Challenges, shortfalls, and solutions—Application to calcium silicate glasses
- Icosahedrite, Al63Cu24Fe13, the first natural quasicrystal
- Sulfides from martian and lunar basalts: Comparative chemistry for Ni, Co, Cu, and Se