Degassing Pit Lakes: Technical Issues and Lessons Learnt from the HERCO2 Project in the Guadiana Open Pit (Herrerías Mine, SW Spain)

Abstract

The unique case of carbon dioxide accumulation in the bottom layer of the acidic lake formed in the Guadiana open pit (Herrerias mine, SW Spain) led to exceptionally high dissolved gas pressures (ca. 5.0 bar at depths of 50–70 m). This CO2 has formed by carbonate (calcite, dolomite) dissolution during decades of interaction of the acidic water with the rocks of the pit walls and associated mine tunnels. The elevated dissolved gas pressures were only comparable to those found in the volcanic crater lakes of Cameroon like Nyos and Monoun, which erupted in the 1980s and sadly triggered the loss of hundreds of human lives. This gas pressure was not far from the absolute (hydrostatic plus atmospheric) pressure limiting CO2 solubility at depth, thus making this pit lake potentially dangerous for the possibility of a hypothetical limnic eruption. Following detailed field and experimental studies aimed at deciphering the source and accumulation patterns of CO2 in the lake, a degassing project started in 2014, which followed an upscaling strategy with construction and installation of progressively bigger pipelines capable of extracting increasingly higher flow rates of CO2-charged water from the deep part of the lake. As of May 2019, the degassing systems have successfully extracted most of the CO2 originally present in the lake (i.e. ≈ 123,000 m3 CO2), which has been discharged to the atmosphere in a controlled and safe way. The fountains became progressively smaller and finally stopped, due to the decreased gas pressure at depth. The larger pipes will serve as a regulating system in the future. This paper describes the main findings encountered during the degassing project, some relevant technical issues observed during the last 5 years (2014–2019), and lessons learnt from the Guadiana pit lake experience.