Min water treatment techniques and the application of vacuum membrane distillation
RIS ID
97137
Abstract
Population growth, industrial and agricultural activities, urbanization and affluence, together with climate change, create considerable stress on freshwater supplies. the role of water reuse is now widely accepted as a sustainable response to the increasing demand for potable water. On-site treatment and reuse of water not only prevents serious damage to the environment but also reduces consumption of fresh water as well as the cost of the treatment process in large-scale plants. Ample opportunities arise in the mining industry to reuse treated mine water on-site. Various methods and processes available for mine water treatment are presented in this chapter, along with an example for using a membrane separation process for mine water treatment. Next, vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) as a thermally driven separation process for separation of a gaseous phase from the entry liquid is described. Treatment of mine water and effluent water using a VMD technology is also evaluated, and effluent water quality is presented. Finally, a sustainability assessment of the proposed treatment technology and its associated technical issues are assessed.
Publication Details
Ramezanianpour, M. and Sivakumar, M. (2015). Min water treatment techniques and the application of vacuum membrane distillation. In M. E. Jarvie-Eggart (Eds.), Responsible Mining: Case Studies in Managing Social and Environmental Risks in the Developed World (pp. 461-488). Englewood, United States: Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration Inc.