Abstract
A demonstration project has been put in place to evaluate the effect of ash placement in an acid mine pool. The surface mine pool, initially 510 million liters, is a remnant of pre-WWII mining of the Mammoth vein in the Eastern Middle anthracite field of Pennsylvania. Fly and bottom ash are placed at the face of two ash platforms in 32 Mg loads and later pushed into the mine pool with bulldozers. Natural compaction of the ash provides a load-bearing capacity of greater than 69 MPa, which is sufficient to permit trucks and bulldozers on the ash platforms. Once subaqueous deposition has been completed, the FBC ash will be covered with four feet of soil and seeded. The pH value of the mine pool increased from 3.6 to 12.1 following ash placement. Calcite now precipitates from the top few feet of the water surface. The alkaline water has caused the precipitation of metals typically associated with acid mine drainage. Water samples collected from two test borings in the ash platform show a chemical signature very close to that of the surface mine pool. Despite the dramatic and homogeneous change in surface mine pool chemistry, no effect has been observed in any of the monitoring wells or at the outflow point of the basin.
Paper version not known (
Free)
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call