Waste management

Miriam Ruiz Gmez

Mara Victoria Riesgo Garca

Coal is the largest source of energy for

the generation of electricity worldwide

The environmental impact of the coal industry includes the consideration of issues such as land use, waste management,

and water, air pollution caused by the coal mining, processing and the use of its products

Waste created by a typical coal plant includes more than 125,000 tons of ash and 193,000 tons of sludge from the smokestack scrubber each year. Nationally, at least 42

percent of coal combustion waste ponds and landfills are unlined.

The traditional treatment may cause: potential toxicant that pollutes the groundwater

and soil, occasionally piles up occupying land and

contaminating soil, contaminating atmospheres in large area

contributing to its long-distance transportation that may cause serious regional environmental pollution,

the air-suspended particles, which is much harmful to people's health.

Coal mining waste

Coal burning waste

Coal burning waste Air pollution

Radiation exposure

Ash

Sludge

Coal mining waste Waste resulting from the methods of

mining

A certain portion of the coal must always be sacrificed.

Coal mining waste Waste resulting from the breaking of tbe

coal in mining and in the preparation of it for

market.

In all mining it becomes necessary to break the coal in order to carry it to the surface.

This is usually done by some form of mining machinery, wedging or blusting.

Coal mining waste

Waste in Fine Coal

Depreciation in the value of coal when it

becomes fine

Coal mining waste

Mine sterile Washery Sterile Sterile heaps Black Sterile Red Sterile

Coal mining waste

Hazardous gasses

Waste coal

Liquid coal waste

In recent years, recycling economy has become the focus of the academic study, and with more sophisticated techniques of waste

control and use applied into the waste treatment, constructing green industry

chains based on recycling economy maybe a solution to the problem.

Coal gangue:

Mostly, by different processing methods, the reuse of the coal gangue is used as input material for

traditional constructing material.

In addition, coal gangue has been accepted in many places as alternative aggregates in embankment,

road, pavement, foundation and building construction, pyrites extraction

Fly-ash:

Coal mine water Industrial production

Environmental purification

Life living

Agricultural water for irrigation

Sterile heaps

Weakness: Spontaneous combustion Space Visual Impact

Open-pit mining

Underground mining

Water management

OPEN-PIT MINING

-Eliminates existing vegetation.

-Destroys the genetic soil profile.

-Displaces or destroys wildlife and habitat.

OPEN-PIT MINING

-Degrades air quality.

-Alters current land uses.

-To some extent changes permanently the general topography of the area mined.

UNDERGROUND MINING

-If tunnels collapse it may cause the collapse of the land surface . -Methane can be released into the air. -The community of microorganisms and nutrient cycling processes can be disrupted.

WATER MANAGEMENT

-Open-pit mining requires large amounts of water.

-These water resources are rarely returned after mining.

-Underground mining has a similar but lesser effect.

WATER MANAGEMENT

To mitigate these problems water is monitored at coal mines. The principal technologies used:

-Diversion systems

-Containment ponds

-Ground water pumping systems

-Sub-surface drainage systems

-Sub-surface barriers

One of the biggest problems that arise related to the storage is the spontaneous combustion of coal.

The environmental impact of the tailings is associated with contamination in soil and water.

If a spontaneous combustion occurs can have a really serious environmental impact.

Coal combustion produces large amounts of contaminants.

The uncontrolled emission of these pollutants represents a danger to the environment and human health.

It makes it a great cause for concern if the coal waste piles are located near urban centers, as some of the pollutants can be inhaled or ingested.

It is clear the importance of the proper management of waste batteries.

This strategy is facilitated by a remote real-time monitoring of some parameters.

These proposals are set out in ECOAL-MGT Project, funded by the European Union included in the program of the European Territorial Cooperation of the Southwest Area (Europe-SUDOE).

The main objective:

-Achieve a continuous study of coal waste piles.

-Identify hazards and the development of scenarios to generate actions to minimize the negative impact.

They are developing a monitoring system based on fiber optics for remote and multipoint measurement of several key parameters.

Recycling" of the coal ashes.

-The recovery of metals from mineral ores is a complicated multi-step process.

-Metal recovery from coal ash may be more efficient than ore processing.

-The physical form is more amenable to process with limited initial conditioning.

Recycling of the coal ashes. Methods for extraction and separation from fly ash

are emerging and becoming more efficient.

Solid waste coal ash traditionally called, can be exploited in the production of

building materials.

The use of ash in the manufacture of cement and bricks, constitutes an alternative to

prevent environmental degradation.

The use of sterile in road embankments

and fills.

Some mining companies like Anglo American are arranging some interesting initiatives.

They are building houses with the coal waste originated in the companys mine placed in South Africa.

They are also coming up with a project whichs objective is inject and store carbon in a depleted gas reservoir deep underground.