Julie Q. Shang

Electrokinetic dewatering of a phosphate clay

The principles of electrokinetic dewatering are: (1) electrophoresis, the movement of colloidal particles in a direct current electric field; (2) dielectrophoresis, the movement of colloidal particles in a non-uniform electric field; and (3) electro-osmosis, the water flow in porous media in a direct current electric field. Electrokinetic dewatering of a phosphate clay was investigated in an experimental program. The results show that the velocity of sedimentation is controlled by the applied current density and that electro-osmotic permeability dominates the effectiveness of electrokinetic consolidation. The intermittent current and polarity reversal can significantly improve the effectiveness of electrokinetic dewatering and reduce energy consumption and adverse electrode reactions.

A Complex Permittivity Measurement System for Undisturbed/Compacted Soils

The design and calibration of a complex permittivity measurement device for undisturbed and compacted soils is presented. The system consists of an automatic network analyzer, a sample holder, coaxial cables, and software to process data. The design of the sample holder and the limitations and sources of errors in the measurement system are discussed. The complex permittivities of two natural clayey soils were measured over the frequency range of 0.3 MHz to 1.3 GHz. For the soils tested, the dielectric constants and volumetric water contents showed a linear trend that was independent of the soil type. It was found that when performing the complex permittivity measurements the soil specimen length should be kept constant and as short as possible while ensuring that the sample is representative of the in-situ soil fabric and grain-size distribution.

Long-term evaluation of coal fly ash and mine tailings co-placement: a site-specific study.

This study presents the results of a laboratory investigation conducted to evaluate the efficiency of coal fly ash to control the formation of acid mine drainage (AMD) from mine waste. Site-specific materials, coal fly ash from Atikokan Thermal Generating Station and mine tailings from Musselwhite mine, were mixed at different proportions for the investigation of the drainage chemistry and the optimal mix using static testing (acid-base accounting) and kinetic (column) testing. The acid-base accounting (ABA) results indicated that the fly ash possessed strong alkaline (neutralization) potential (NP) and could be used in the management of reactive mine tailings, thus ensuring prevention of AMD in the long-term. Column tests conducted in the laboratory to further investigate long-term performance of fly ash in the neutralization and prevention of acid mine drainage from tailings similarly showed that mixing fly ash with mine tailings reduces dissolution of many heavy metals from tailings by providing alkalinity to the system. It was found that a fly ash to tailings mass ratio equal to or greater than 15% can effectively prevent AMD generation from Musselwhite mine tailings in the co-placement approach.

Feasibility of Using Coal Fly Ash for Mine Waste Containment

This study investigates the feasibility of using coal fly ash and fly ash-bentonite mixtures as a barrier material for mine waste. The hydraulic conductivity of the coal fly ash was measured to be in the order of 2 x 10 -9 m/s when it was permeated with deionized water, and this value decreased significantly when the permeant was switched to acid mine drainage (AMD). Addition of bentonite to coal fly ash lowered the hydraulic conductivity during water permeation but no further significant change was observed upon switching the permeant to AMD. Chemical analyses on the effluent from the hydraulic conductivity tests indicated that heavy metals present in AMD were attenuated and were well below the leachate criteria set by the Ontario Government. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy analyses results of post permeation samples showed significant structural differences and formation of secondary minerals after AMD permeation. The results of this study suggest that the addition of 10% bentonite to coal fly ash reduced the hydraulic conductivity of the coal fly ash to less than 1 x 10 −9 m/s and improved the chemical compatibility for mine waste containment.

Ultrasound-assisted extraction for total sulphur measurement in mine tailings

A sample preparation method for percentage recovery of total sulphur (%S) in reactive mine tailings based on ultrasound-assisted digestion (USAD) and inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) was developed. The influence of various methodological factors was screened by employing a two-level and three-factor (2(3)) full factorial design and using KZK-1, a sericite schist certified reference material (CRM), to find the optimal combination of studied factors and %S. Factors such as the sonication time, temperature and acid combination were studied, with the best result identified as 20 min of sonication, 80°C temperature and 1 ml of HNO(3):1 ml of HCl, which can achieve 100% recovery for the selected CRM. Subsequently a fraction of the 2(3) full factorial design was applied to mine tailings. The percentage relative standard deviation (%RSD) for the ultrasound method is less than 3.0% for CRM and less than 6% for the mine tailings. The investigated method was verified by X-ray diffraction analysis. The USAD method compared favorably with existing methods such as hot plate assisted digestion method, X-ray fluorescence and LECO™-CNS method.

Improved Complex Permittivity Measurement and Data Processing Technique for Soil-Water Systems

The complex permittivity of soil-water systems is a function of a number of soil properties. By measuring the complex permittivity, one could quantitatively evaluate the soil behavior under existing conditions in the field, as well as identify changes in the environment. This paper describes the improvement of a measurement and data processing technique for the analysis of the complex permittivity of soil. A sample holder described in a previously published study is modified to reduce errors from sample handling and to increase the measurement accuracy and capacity. A modular unit is designed to measure the static conductivity and the complex permittivity of the soil simultaneously. The data processing technique is also presented, including the identification of the frequency for data analysis and extraction of the static conductivity from the measured loss factors. The results of the complex permittivity measurements on a compacted natural clayey till are presented to demonstrate the typical relationships of the soil complex permittivity as they are related to the soil volumetric water content, bulk density, and salinity.

Effect of operating parameters on desulphurization of mine tailings by froth flotation.

A site-specific study is carried out to assess the suitability of froth flotation for desulphurization of reactive mine tailings at the Musselwhite Mine, Northern Ontario, Canada, to prevent acid mine drainage (AMD). The results from pilot scale flotation tests on an Outokumpu flotation unit are presented, which confirm that froth flotation is effective to reduce sulphide contents of tailings. The factors affecting the treatment effectiveness, such as the froth depth, air flow rate, pulp density and impeller speed are studied. The sulphur recoveries after 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, and 12 min of flotation time are fitted to a second-order kinetic model. It is found that the second order rate constant, k(2) is negatively correlated with the froth depth and positively correlated with the air flow rate. Based on the data presented in this study; the maximum recovery of total sulphur was achieved when the operational parameters were set to the froth depth of 5 cm, air flow rate 125 L/min, impeller speed 1300 rpm and pulp density 35%.

Thermo-mechanical properties and microfabric of fly ash-stabilized gold tailings

This paper studies the changes in thermal conductivity, temperature, and unconfined compressive strength of gold tailings and fly ash mixtures during the curing period of 5 days. The microfabric of the cured mixtures was investigated with mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP). The mixture samples were prepared at their maximum dry unit weight and optimum moisture content. Effect of adding fly ash to gold tailings (i.e., 0, 20, and 40% of the dry weight of tailings) was examined, and a comparison was made on samples prepared at the same fly ash content by replacing gold tailings with humic acid (i.e., gold tailings and humic acid ratios of 100:0, 90:10, and 80:20 by weight) or by varying pore fluid chemistry (i.e., water and salt solutions of 1M NaCl and CaCl2). The results show that the initial thermal conductivity of the samples is sensitive to the mixture proportion and a declination in the thermal conductivity is observed due to hydration of fly ash and evaporation. Inclusion of fly ash and salts into gold tailings improves the unconfined compressive strength but the presence of humic acid in samples leads to the decrease of the strength. MIP results reveal the pore structure changes associated with the packing states of the samples that reflect the influential factors considered.

In-situ study of beneficial utilization of coal fly ash in reactive mine tailings.

Oxidation of reactive mine tailings and subsequent generation of acid mine drainage (AMD) have been long recognized as the largest environmental concern for the mining industry. Laboratory studies on utilization of coal fly ash in management of reactive mine tailings have shown reducing water and oxygen infiltration into tailings matrix, thus preventing oxidation of sulphide minerals and acid generation. However, few data from field studies to evaluate the performance of co-placement of mine tailings and fly ash (CMF hereafter) are reported in the open literature. This paper documents the construction and instrumentation of three CMF systems on the Musselwhite mine located in Ontario, Canada and presents results of 3-year real time monitoring. The field data indicates that the CMFs reduced the ingress of water due to cementation generated by hydration of fly ash. It was also found that the electrical conductivity of leachate from CMFs decreased in the early stage of co-placement, compared to the control. With further study, the principle and approach demonstrated in this paper can be adopted as a sustainable technology in the mine tailings management.

Analysis of electrokinetic sedimentation of dredged Welland River sediment.

The Welland River is a tributary of the Niagara River. In the late 1980s it was discovered that a section of the Welland River was contaminated with heavy metals as a results of two sewer outfalls that has been used by a steel plant and local industrial and municipal operations for the last 50-60 years. One of the major problems encountered in the treatment of the dredged Welland River sediment is a slow rate of sedimentation due to the large proportion of fine solids in the sediment. In this study, the results of electrokinetic sedimentation of the Welland River sediment are analyzed based on the principles of gravitational and electrokinetic sedimentation. It was found that the effects of electric field intensity and the initial solid concentration of the suspension are the dominating factors governing the average particle settling velocity, the coefficient of free settling in the free settling stage and the coefficient of sedimentation in the hindered settling stage. The electrokinetic treatment is proven to be effective in terms of increasing the free and hindered settling velocities, reducing the overall sedimentation time and increasing the final solid concentration of the sediment. Thus, electrokinetics can be used to accelerate sedimentation of dilute solid suspensions, such as dredged sediment, wastewater and mine tailings.