GSA Annual Meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA - 2018

Paper No. 230-13
Presentation Time: 11:15 AM

TREATING DISSOLVED IRON IN ACID MINE DRAINAGE USING SLOW-RELEASE HYDROGEN PEROXIDE


MILLER, Sam, Geological Sciences, Ohio University, 304 Clippinger Laboratories, Athens, OH 45701, LEE, Eung Seok, Geological Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, KIM, Yongje, Geologic Environment Division, Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM), Daejeon, 34132, Korea, Republic of (South), CHEONG, Young-Wook, Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, Taejon, 305-350, Korea, Republic of (South), CHON, Chul-Min, Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, 30 Gajeong-dong Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305-350, Korea, Republic of (South) and SCHWARTZ, Franklin W., School of Earth Sciences, The Ohio State University, 125 S. Oval Mall, Columbus, OH 43210

Metal concentrations from acid mine drainage (AMD) pose a significant threat to aquatic systems worldwide. This study tested the efficacy of using slow-release hydrogen peroxide (SR-HP) to remove dissolved iron from AMD. The SR-HP forms released H2O2 in flowing water at stable rates ranging from 0.02 mg min-1 to 1.5 mg min-1 depending on salt/binding agent mixing ratios. Proof-of-concept iron removal tests indicated that SR-HP forms can rapidly remove dissolved iron from AMD within 1 minute. Ideal dissolved iron/[H2O2] ratios for >80% iron removal clustered around 2, with decreasing removal efficiencies as the ratio increases. A small-scale field test demonstrated that dissolved iron concentrations were reduced by 80% within the first hour of treatment. These results suggest feasibility of using SR-HP to treat dissolved iron and other oxidizable metals in AMD water.