Treatment System Turns Mine Water Into Useful Resource
Industrial WaterWorld
March/April 2010
A new water treatment system is being implemented by Consol Energy Inc.
in one of the largest coal mines in the United States. The Buchanan No.
1 coal mine in Oakwood, VA, will use receive GE's filtration membranes
and thermal water treatment technology to treat the mine water,
enabling about 99 percent of the water to be reused in the operation.
The new system will significantly reduce the volume of mine water that
must be managed. Further, it will reduce freshwater demand, as the
processed water coming out of the system can be used at the mine's
preparation plant facility. The salt that naturally occurs in the mine
water will be removed through the filtration process.
The Buchanan mine is one of the nation's largest underground coal
mines. In 2009, the Consol Energy mine produced 2.84 million tons of
coal and 71.45 billion cubic feet of associated coal bed methane gas
from its Virginia operations.
Part of an overall infrastructure upgrade expected to be completed by
the fourth quarter of 2010, GE's zero liquid discharge (ZLD) system is
capable of treating up to 1,600 gallons of water per minute using a
combination of ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, brine evaporation and
salt crystallization technologies. In the process, dissolved minerals
in the mine water, largely salt, will be left behind in a crystalline
form. Mine operations will not be impacted during system installation.
GE has teamed with building contractor Bowen Engineering on the project.
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