Feasibility of Using Coal Fly Ash for Mine Waste Containment
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 136, Issue 7
Abstract
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 when it was permeated with deionized water, and this value decreased significantly when the permeant was switched to acid mine drainage (AMD). The 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 postpermeation 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 and improved the chemical compatibility for mine waste containment.
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Acknowledgments
The work described in this paper was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Corporate Research and Development Project (Grant No. UNSPECIFIEDCRDPJ 319808-04), Goldcorp Musselwhite Mine, Ontario Power Generation-Atikokan Generating Station, and Golder Associates Ltd.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 136 • Issue 7 • July 2010
Pages: 682 - 690
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Jan 16, 2009
Accepted: Aug 27, 2009
Published online: Dec 18, 2009
Published in print: Jul 2010
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