Hydrologic and Geochemical Factors Governing Chemical Evolution of Discharges from an Abandoned, Flooded, Underground Coal Mine Network
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 131, Issue 4
Abstract
Discharges from some underground flooded coal mines have exhibited increases in pH and reductions in contaminant loadings with time. Data from a study of mine water quality evolution in interconnected, flooded mines of the Uniontown syncline, Southwestern Pennsylvania were evaluated with the aid of modeling to elucidate the hydrologic and geochemical factors responsible for such changes. Coal barriers left in place from mining operations define three hydraulically distinct but interconnected zones: the southern, central, and northern pools. Assuming each mine pool to behave as a completely mixed tank reactor, a steady-state, tanks-in-series model was developed to describe system hydraulics. Chemical modeling components were coupled with the tank reactor hydraulic model to simulate inputs to the mine voids, acid generation from pyrite dissolution, and discharge water quality. Empirical in-mine chemical production terms were estimated for each of the mine pools based on discharge data from 1974 to 1975 and 1998 to 2000. The production terms were then used to simulate discharge water quality for each of the mine pools over a period. Simulated water quality in the northern and central mine pools reached steady-state conditions approximately after the mine pools flooded, evolving over time to reflect the recharge water quality. The simulation results indicate that the evolution of mine water quality in the flooded mine voids has been governed by alkaline recharge water slowly displacing acidic “first flush” water.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Grant No. R825794. Although the research described in the paper has been funded wholly or in part by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, it has not been subjected to any EPA review and therefore does not necessarily reflect the views of the Agency, and no official endorsement should be inferred.
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Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 131 • Issue 4 • April 2005
Pages: 643 - 650
Copyright
© 2005 ASCE.
History
Received: Nov 18, 2003
Accepted: Apr 2, 2004
Published online: Apr 1, 2005
Published in print: Apr 2005
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