Tropical Soils–Acid Mine Drainage Interactions: Breakthrough Curves and Some Transport Parameters
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 133, Issue 7
Abstract
The interactions between acid mine drainage (AMD) and three tropical clayey soils have been studied through hydraulic conductivity and batch sorption/dissolution testing. After 19–24 pore volumes of AMD flow through the soils, the measured final hydraulic conductivity ranged between and . The pH, electrical conductivity, and solute breakthrough curves obtained suggested the soils had low acid-buffering capacities. Also, several chemical species were released from the soils due to AMD attack of soil grains and mineral. The batch tests revealed high dissolution of species such as sodium, cobalt, and sulfate from the soils by AMD. The results also indicated dissolution of metals from soil constituents, desorption of chemical species, and transformation and dissolution of soil minerals due to AMD attack. The results of the study showed that, in general, the soils were not effective in attenuating contaminants present in the AMD. Thus, they may not be used alone to construct liners for acid-generating waste mine containment facilities.
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Acknowledgments
The information presented in this paper has been obtained as part of an ongoing study to evaluate tropical soils for lining waste containment facilities. The writers are grateful to the Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Program and the Building and Road Research Institute, Ghana, for providing financial assistance to E. M. F. The study was also partly funded by the Discovery Grant awarded to E. K. Y. by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
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Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 133 • Issue 7 • July 2007
Pages: 733 - 741
Copyright
© 2007 ASCE.
History
Received: Aug 31, 2005
Accepted: Dec 5, 2006
Published online: Jul 1, 2007
Published in print: Jul 2007
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