Semester

Fall

Date of Graduation

2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

College

Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

Department

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Committee Chair

Lian-Shin Lin

Committee Member

Sean Collins

Committee Member

John Quaranta

Abstract

Acid mine drainage (AMD) is a widespread issue across the globe, in which some of the most critical cases are created by the mining industry. Researchers have investigated ways to derive benefits from AMD, such as precipitating rare earth elements (REEs) to generate potential revenue from AMD treatment and supplement market demand. However, the bulk of precipitated sludge is composed of iron and aluminum, which also have market value but are discarded in current practice.

Using the Omega site in West Virginia (WV) as a representative AMD source, the objectives of this study are (1) to determine a replicable precipitation process for high-purity iron and aluminum recovery, (2) to analyze the impacts of different treatment processes on purity and other characteristics of the resulting granular products, (3) compare the iron granular product’s efficacy for phosphate removal to a commercial product, and (4) perform a techno-economic analysis (TEA) to assess the feasibility of iron and aluminum recovery for beneficial uses.

The first objective was met by developing a 2-step chemical precipitation process using NaOH and a commercial flocculant to maximize iron and aluminum precipitation, where efficiencies were 99.6% and 97.6% respectively. The second objective was met by developing simple treatments for the iron and aluminum precipitants to refine their purity (e.g. a control, rinsing, and chemical dosing to raise pH). The resulting granular products were then examined using spectroscopic and microscopic analyses. It was found that the granule products were predominantly ferric oxide (Fe2O3)and aluminum oxide (Al2O3), and were amorphous in nature. All products had relatively high purities and were comparable to some market products, excluding the raw aluminum granule product.

The third objective was met by running parallel adsorption tests that compared the iron granules generated in this study to a consumer product. The iron granules had an adsorption capacity of 21.7 mg PO4/g, which was lower than the commercial product’s 28.2 mg PO4/g. The fourth objective was met by using a cost analysis program to compare a selective precipitation process to a traditional AMD treatment process. Over the course of the study period, the proposed process produced additional costs but showed promise in revenue-generating potential, which is contingent on aspects outside the scope of this work.

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