Passive Treatment of Acid Mine Drainage in Down-Flow Limestone Systems

Abstract

Passive down-flow systems, consisting of compost and/or limestone layers, may be well suited for treatment of acidic mine drainage containing ferric iron and/or aluminum. Two columns were constructed and operated in the laboratory. The first column simulated a downward, vertical-flow anaerobic wetland, also referred to as successive alkalinity-producing systems (SAPS), and has received mine drainage for 97 weeks. The 0.16-m diameter column was vertically oriented and (from bottom to top) consisted of a 0.30-m thick layer of limestone, a 0.76-m thick layer of spent mushroom compost, and 0.91 m of free standing water. Water flowed vertically downward through the system. A second column, filled with only limestone, received water from the same source as the first column. This limestone column contained a 1.06-m thick layer of limestone and 0.91 m of free standing water and has received water for 55 weeks. Actual acid mine drainage (pH = 3.1, acidity = 200 mg/L (as CaCO{sub 3}), SO{sub 4}{sup 2-} = 600 mg/L, Total Fe = 10 mg/L, Mn = 14 mg/L, and Al = 18 mg/L) was collected every two weeks from a nearby abandoned deep mine and applied to these columns at a rate of 3.8 mL/min. For the compost/limestone column, effluent pH remained above 6.2 (6.2-7.9); however, pH at a depth of 0.38 m in the compost (halfway) dropped to < 4 after 28 weeks (net acidic). At the bottom of the compost pH remained > 4.5 for all 97 weeks. Alkalinity was generated by a combination of limestone dissolution and sulfate reduction. Over the 97 week period, the column generated an average of 330 mg/L of alkalinity, mostly due to limestone dissolution. Bacterial sulfate reduction displayed an ever decreasing trend, initially accounting for more than 200 mg/L of alkalinity and after 40 weeks only accounting for about 50 mg/L.