Treatment of Acid Mine Drainage Using Un- Activated Bentonite and Limestone
| Main Authors: | Thembelihle Nkonyane, Freeman Ntuli, Edison Muzenda |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Bahasa: | eng |
| Terbitan: |
, 2012
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: |
https://zenodo.org/record/1070147 |
Daftar Isi:
- The use of un-activated bentonite, and un-activated bentonite blended with limestone for the treatment of acid mine drainage (AMD) was investigated. Batch experiments were conducted in a 5 L PVC reactor. Un-activated bentonite on its own did not effectively neutralize and remove heavy metals from AMD. The final pH obtained was below 4 and the metal removal efficiency was below 50% for all the metals when bentonite solid loadings of 1, 5 and 10% were used. With un-activated bentonite (1%) blended with 1% limestone, the final pH obtained was approximately 7 and metal removal efficiencies were greater than 60% for most of the metals. The Langmuir isotherm gave the best fit for the experimental data giving correlation coefficient (R2) very close to 1. Thus, it was concluded that un-activated bentonite blended with limestone is suitable for potential applications in removing heavy metals and neutralizing AMD.