Remediation of the Acid Drainage with Zeolite: Amalgamated Twofold Functions pH Control and Removal Copper, Lead and Zinc

- The generation of acid drainages is one of the environmental problems generated by the mining industry. Acid Mine Drains (AMD) are generated from the oxidation of metal sulphides in the presence of water and by the metal beneficiation processes. One of the objectives of acid water treatment methods is the neutralization of acidity and removal heavy metals. Tests were carried out in batches with the value of pH 2. To 100 mL of the test solution is added 15 g of zeolite with constant stirring. For a time of 195 minutes pH measurements were made every 15 minutes. The test was performed in triplicate. For the validation of all the results, the General Lineal Models (GLM) procedure of SAS® was used, with α = 0.05. Adsorption tests were made with a trimetallic solution with different amounts of adsorbent material that was previously used to control the pH of an acid. The objective of this work was to determine the basic design parameters for the scaling of an innovative neutralization technology for an acid mine drain, as well as to determine the effect of the acid treatment on the adsorption properties of the zeolite. The adequacy of the pH values is feasible by means of a zeolite and the removal of metals stand for this is possible after undergoing a strongly acidic solution.