Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Filtration Studies for Geotextile Selection to Produce Rare Earth Elements Preconcentrate

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
International Journal of Geosynthetics and Ground Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This research investigates geotextile filtration efficiencies for large-scale dewatering of a two-stage selective precipitation acid mine drainage (AMD) treatment process to recover rare earth elements (REE) sludge. The REE precipitate contained particle sizes of 8.5 × 10–5 mm, which are much smaller than the typical AMD single-split particle size flocs that are filtered and dewatered using geotextiles for treatment. Laboratory tests involved vertical column filtration experiments incorporating woven and nonwoven geotextiles under falling head permittivity tests with different AMD precipitate solutions. Treatment protocol variations included polymer dosage added at each supernatant split (ppm), physical condition of the precipitate (raw/sheared/not sheared), and total solids generated as flocculated precipitate. The testing matrix contrasted the geotextile type (woven vs. nonwoven) with the selective precipitate to evaluate geotextile, filtration efficiency, precipitate filter cake formation, and system hydraulic conductivity. The nonwoven geotextiles included apparent opening size (AOS) of 0.149 mm, and 0.21 mm, while the woven geotextile had an AOS of 0.41 mm. Findings indicated that the nonwoven geotextile demonstrated the highest filtration efficiency (> 90%) in comparison to a standard woven geotextile (30%) in worst case scenario treatment. The results also showed no significant difference in the hydraulic conductivity of the filter cake/geotextile for a test sample when varying flocculation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

References

  1. USGS (2021) Rare earths mineral commodity summaries. http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/rare_earths/. Accessed 19 Sept 2021

  2. Seiler V (2021) China-to-FOB price transmission in the rare earth elements market and the end of Chinese export restrictions. Energy Econ 102:105485

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Cox C, Kynicky J (2018) The rapid evolution of speculative investment in the REE market before, during, and after the rare-earth crisis of 2010–2012. Extract Ind Soc 5:8–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Fernandez V (2017) Rare-earth elements market: a historical and financial perspective. Resour Policy 53:26–45

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. USDOE (2017) Rare earth elements from coal and coal byproducts. Department of Energy, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  6. Ziemkiewicz PF, He T, Noble A, Liu X (2016) Recovery of rare earth elements (REEs) from coal mine drainage. West Virginia Mine Drain. Task Force Symp., Morgantown, WV

  7. Vass CR, Noble A, Ziemkiewicz PF (2019) The occurrence and concentration of rare earth elements in acid mine drainage and treatment by-products: part 1—initial survey of the Northern Appalachian Coal Basin. Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42461-019-0097-z

  8. Vass CR, Noble A, Ziemkiewicz PF (2019) The occurrence and concentration of rare earth elements in acid mine drainage and treatment by-products: part 2: regional survey of Northern and Central Appalachian Coal Basins. Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42461-019-00112-9

  9. Ziemkiewicz P, Liu X, Noble A (2018) REE identification and characterization of coal and coal by‐products containing high rare earth element concentrations. Final report, US Department of Energy, FE0026444-Final-Report-092618.pdf

  10. Wang Y, Noble A, Vass A, Ziemkiewicz P (2021) Speciation of rare earth elements in acid mine drainage precipitates by sequential extraction. Miner Eng 168:106827

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Ziemkiewicz P, Noble A, Vass C (2021) Systems and processes for recovery of high-grade rare earth concentrates from acid mine drainage. Patent no. US 10,954,582 B2

  12. Muthukumaran AE, Ilmaparuthi K (2006) Laboratory studies on geotextiles filters as used in geotextile tube dewatering. Geotext Geomembr 24(4):210–219

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Lawson CR (2008) Geotextile containment for hydraulic and environmental engineering. Geosynth Int 15(6):384–427

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Weggel JR, Ward N (2012) A model for filter cake formation on geotextiles: theory. Geotext Geomembr 31:51–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Coackley P, Jones BRS (1956) Vacuum sludge filtration: I. Interpretation of results by the concept of specific resistance. Sewage Ind Wastes 28(8):963–976

    Google Scholar 

  16. Wu CC, Huang C, Lee DJ (1996) Effects of polymer dosage on alum sludge dewatering characteristics and physical properties. Colloids Surf A 122:89–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Scholz M (2005) Review of recent trends in capillary suction time (CST) dewaterability testing research. Ind Eng Chem Res 44:8157–8163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Sawalha O, Scholz M (2010) Modeling the relationship between capillary suction time and specific resistance to filtration. J Environ Eng 136(9):983–991

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Wei H, Gao B, Ren J, Li A, Yang H (2018) Coagulation/flocculation in dewatering of sludge: a review. Water Res 143:608–631

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Weggel J, Dortch J (2012) A model for filter cake formation on geotextiles: Experiments. Geotext Geomembr 31:62–68

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Moo-Young HK, Gaffney DA, Mo X (2002) Testing procedures to assess the viability of dewatering with geotextile tubes. Geotext Geomembr 20(5):289–303

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. ASTM Standard D5084 (2016) Standard test methods for measurement of hydraulic conductivity of saturated porous materials using a flexible wall permeameter. ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA. https://doi.org/10.1520/D5084-16A. www.astm.org

  23. ASTM Standard D4751 (2021) Standard test methods for determining apparent opening size of a geotextile. ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA. https://doi.org/10.1520/D4751-21A. www.astm.org

  24. ASTM Standard D4491 (2022) Standard test methods for water permeability of geotextiles by permittivity. ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA. https://doi.org/10.1520/D4491_D4491M-22. www.astm.org

  25. ASTM Standard D5261 (2018) Standard test method for measuring mass per unit area of geotextiles. ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA. https://doi.org/10.1520/D4491_D4491M-22. www.astm.org

  26. ASTM Standard D5199 (2019) Standard test method for measuring the nominal thickness of geosynthetics. ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA. https://doi.org/10.1520/D4491_D4491M-22. www.astm.org

  27. Haldar A, Mahadevan S (1999) Probability, reliability, and statistical methods in engineering design. Willey, New York

    Google Scholar 

  28. Stoltz G, Delmas P, Barral C (2019) Comparison of the behaviour of various geotextiles used in the filtration of clayey sludge: an experimental study. Geotext Geomembr 47:230–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Kutay M, Aydilek A (2005) Filtration performance of two-layer geotextile systems. Geotech Test J 28(1):79–91

    Google Scholar 

  30. Christopher B, Fischer G (1992) Geotextile filtration principles, practices and problems. Geotext Geomembr 11:337–353

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Ardilla MAA, Souza ST, Silva JL, Valentin CA, Dantas AB (2020) Geotextile tube dewatering performance assessment: an experimental study of sludge dewatering generated at a water treatment plant. Sustainability 12(8129):1–22

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the United States Department of Energy award #DEFE0031834. The authors would like to thank Nathalia Castro and Tom Stephens from Solmax© for the insights and furnishing geosynthetic samples. We would also to thank Luke Daugherty, Brady Watters, and Jonah Tyson for assistance with laboratory testing.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics and Engineering, Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, PA, USA

    Iuri Lira Santos

  2. Wadsworth Department of Civil and Environmental, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA

    Cory Nasiadka & John Quaranta

  3. West Virginia Water Research Institute, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA

    Paul Ziemkiewicz

Authors
  1. Iuri Lira Santos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Cory Nasiadka
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. John Quaranta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Paul Ziemkiewicz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by ILS and CN. JQ and PZ oversaw the scientific methodology, application, and interpretation of results. The first draft of the manuscript was written by ILS and CN and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Iuri Lira Santos.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lira Santos, I., Nasiadka, C., Quaranta, J. et al. Filtration Studies for Geotextile Selection to Produce Rare Earth Elements Preconcentrate. Int. J. of Geosynth. and Ground Eng. 9, 2 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40891-022-00420-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40891-022-00420-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation