Removal of arsenic and metals from groundwater impacted by mine waste using zero-valent iron and organic carbon: Laboratory column experiments

Joanne U. Angai; Carol J. Ptacek; Eva Pakostova; Jeff G. Bain; Brent R. Verbuyst; David W. Blowes

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127295

Removal of arsenic and metals from groundwater impacted by mine waste using zero-valent iron and organic carbon: Laboratory column experiments

Joanne U. Angai, Carol J. Ptacek, Eva Pakostova, Jeff G. Bain, Brent R. Verbuyst, David W. Blowes

University of Waterloo

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

26 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

Acid mine drainage and the associated contaminants, including As and metals, are ongoing environmental issues. Passive remediation technologies have the potential to remove As from mine waste effluents. A series of laboratory column experiments was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of varying mixtures of organic carbon (OC), zero-valent iron (ZVI), and limestone for the treatment of As, metals, SO42− , and acidity in groundwater from an abandoned gold mine. The onset of bacterially-mediated SO4²⁻ reduction was indicated by a decrease in Eh, a decline in aqueous SO4²⁻ concentrations coupled with enrichment of δ³⁴S, and the presence of sulfatereducing bacteria and H2S. Removal of As was observed within the first 3 cm of reactive material, to values below 10 µg L^{− 1}, representing > 99.9% removal. An increase in pH from 3.5 to circumneutral values and removal of metals including Al, Cu, and Zn was also observed. Synchrotron results suggest As was removed through precipitation of As-crystalline phases such as realgar and orpiment, or through adsorption as As(V) on ferrihydrite. The results indicate the potential for a mixture of OC and ZVI to remove As from acidic, mine-impacted water.

Original language	English
Article number	127295
Number of pages	16
Journal	Journal of Hazardous Materials
Volume	424
Issue number	Part A
Early online date	20 Sept 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127295
Publication status	Published - 15 Feb 2022

Bibliographical note

© 2021, Elsevier. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-
NoDerivatives 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Copyright © and Moral Rights are retained by the author(s) and/ or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This item cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder(s). The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright
holders.

Funder

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada , TERRE-NET (Grant Number: NETGP 479708-15 ) and the Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines (ENDM). Synchrotron-based techniques were performed at Sector 20-ID of the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357 . Additional synchrotron-based techniques were performed using beamline SXRMB at the Canadian Light Source, a national research facility of the University of Saskatchewan , which is supported by the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the National Research Council (NRC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Government of Saskatchewan, and the University of Saskatchewan .

Keywords

Acid Mine Drainage
Mining
Permeable Reactive Barriers
Water Treatment

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Environmental Engineering
Environmental Chemistry
Waste Management and Disposal
Pollution
Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis

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10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127295

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Cite this

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title = "Removal of arsenic and metals from groundwater impacted by mine waste using zero-valent iron and organic carbon: Laboratory column experiments",

abstract = "Acid mine drainage and the associated contaminants, including As and metals, are ongoing environmental issues. Passive remediation technologies have the potential to remove As from mine waste effluents. A series of laboratory column experiments was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of varying mixtures of organic carbon (OC), zero-valent iron (ZVI), and limestone for the treatment of As, metals, SO42− , and acidity in groundwater from an abandoned gold mine. The onset of bacterially-mediated SO42− reduction was indicated by a decrease in Eh, a decline in aqueous SO42− concentrations coupled with enrichment of δ34S, and the presence of sulfatereducing bacteria and H2S. Removal of As was observed within the first 3 cm of reactive material, to values below 10 µg L− 1, representing > 99.9% removal. An increase in pH from 3.5 to circumneutral values and removal of metals including Al, Cu, and Zn was also observed. Synchrotron results suggest As was removed through precipitation of As-crystalline phases such as realgar and orpiment, or through adsorption as As(V) on ferrihydrite. The results indicate the potential for a mixture of OC and ZVI to remove As from acidic, mine-impacted water. ",

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AU - Bain, Jeff G.

AU - Verbuyst, Brent R.

AU - Blowes, David W.

N1 - © 2021, Elsevier. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivatives 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Copyright © and Moral Rights are retained by the author(s) and/ or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This item cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder(s). The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.

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AB - Acid mine drainage and the associated contaminants, including As and metals, are ongoing environmental issues. Passive remediation technologies have the potential to remove As from mine waste effluents. A series of laboratory column experiments was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of varying mixtures of organic carbon (OC), zero-valent iron (ZVI), and limestone for the treatment of As, metals, SO42− , and acidity in groundwater from an abandoned gold mine. The onset of bacterially-mediated SO42− reduction was indicated by a decrease in Eh, a decline in aqueous SO42− concentrations coupled with enrichment of δ34S, and the presence of sulfatereducing bacteria and H2S. Removal of As was observed within the first 3 cm of reactive material, to values below 10 µg L− 1, representing > 99.9% removal. An increase in pH from 3.5 to circumneutral values and removal of metals including Al, Cu, and Zn was also observed. Synchrotron results suggest As was removed through precipitation of As-crystalline phases such as realgar and orpiment, or through adsorption as As(V) on ferrihydrite. The results indicate the potential for a mixture of OC and ZVI to remove As from acidic, mine-impacted water.

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Removal of arsenic and metals from groundwater impacted by mine waste using zero-valent iron and organic carbon: Laboratory column experiments

Abstract

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Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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