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Potential Pollution of Groundwater by Dissolution and Release of Contaminants due to Using Gangue for Backfilling

Potentielle Grundwasserverunreinigungen durch Lösung und Freisetzung von Schadstoffen infolge der Verwendung von Abraum zur Verfüllung

Contaminación potencial del agua subterránea por disolución y liberación de contaminantes debido al uso de ganga para relleno

充填矸石的污染物溶解与释放对地下水的潜在污染

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Abstract

Large quantities of solid wastes, including gangue (waste rock) have been added to the goafs in China’s coal mines as backfill. In this study, the mineral and chemical compositions of gangue from the No. 12 coal mine of the Pingdingshan Coal Group were investigated to determine potential pollution concerns, and the behaviour of contaminants in the gangue, such as salts, alkali metals, and alkaline earth metals, was explored using static immersion tests. COMSOL Multiphysics was used to study contaminant migration. The concentration and diffusion distance of metal ions were found to increase over time; this was negatively correlated with gangue particle size. Acidic environments promoted the dissolution of Ca, Fe, Mn, Na, Zn, Pb, and Be, while in alkaline environments, Se dissolution was accelerated.

Zusammenfassung

Große Mengen an Festabfällen, darunter auch Abraum (Gangart bzw. taubes Gestein), wurden zur Verfüllung ausgekohlter Abbaubereiche in Chinas Kohleminen verwendet. In der vorliegenden Studie wurde die mineralogische und chemische Zusammensetzung von Abraum aus der Kohlemine Nr. 12 der Pingdingshan Coal Group erforscht, um potentielle Risiken im Hinblick auf Umweltverschmutzungen festzustellen. Weiterhin wurde das Verhalten von Schadstoffen wie z.B. Salzen, Alkalimetallen und Erdalkalimetallen im Abraum mittels statischer Immersionsversuche untersucht. Mittels COMSOL Multiphysics wurde die Ausbreitung von Schadstoffen untersucht. Es wurde festgestellt, dass die Konzentration und Ausbreitungsdistanz von Metallionen über die Zeit zunahm, was wiederum negativ mit der Korngröße des Abraums korrelierte. Ein saures Milieu begünstigte die Auflösung von Ca, Fe, Mn, Na, Zn, Pb, and Be, wohingegen im alkalischen Milieu die Auflösung von Se beschleunigt wurde.

Resumen

Se han agregado grandes cantidades de desechos sólidos, incluida ganga (roca de desecho) a los hoyos en las minas de carbón de China como relleno. Se estudiaron las composiciones minerales y químicas de la ganga de la mina de carbón número 12 del Grupo de Carbón Pingdingshan, para determinar posibles problemas de contaminación, y se exploró el comportamiento de los contaminantes en la ganga, como sales, metales alcalinos y metales alcalinotérreos, utilizando pruebas de inmersión estática. COMSOL Multiphysics se usó para estudiar la migración de contaminantes. La concentración y la distancia de difusión de los iones metálicos aumentaron con el tiempo; esto se correlacionó negativamente con el tamaño de partícula de ganga. Los ambientes ácidos promovieron la disolución de Ca, Fe, Mn, Na, Zn, Pb y Be, mientras que en ambientes alcalinos, la disolución de Se se aceleró.

摘要

在中国,大量固体废物(包括矸石)已经被充填到采空区。研究了平顶山矿业集团12矿矸石的矿物和化学成分以识别潜在污染,采用静态浸泡试验分析盐、碱金属、碱土金属等矸石污染物化学行为特征,通过COMSOL Multiphysics预测污染物运移归宿。金属离子的浓度和扩散距离随时间推移而增大,随矸石粒径增大而减小。酸性环境促进钙、铁、锰、钠、锌、铅和铍溶解,而碱性环境加速了硒溶解。

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Acknowledgements

Financial support for this work was provided by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2017XKZD13).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Coal Resources and Safe Mining, Xuzhou, 221116, China

    Wenyue Qi, Yanli Huang, Jixiong Zhang, Junmeng Li & Ming Qiao

  2. School of Mines, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, China

    Wenyue Qi, Yanli Huang, Jixiong Zhang, Junmeng Li & Ming Qiao

  3. School of Resources and Geosciences, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, China

    Hu He

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  1. Wenyue Qi
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Correspondence to Yanli Huang.

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Qi, W., Huang, Y., He, H. et al. Potential Pollution of Groundwater by Dissolution and Release of Contaminants due to Using Gangue for Backfilling. Mine Water Environ 38, 281–293 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10230-018-00585-y

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