Effects of acid drainage from abandoned coal mines on the microbial community of Shandi River sediment,Shanxi Province

The discharge of acid mine drainage from abandoned high sulfur(S)coal mines has caused serious pollution in the Shandi River,Yangquan,Shanxi Province.To determine the impact of long-term acid mine drainage on the microorganisms in the river,we collected river sediments from a polluted tributary(Group P)and the mainstream of Shandi River(Group R)to study the bacterial diversity and community composition.The results showed that the tributary was seriously polluted by acid drainage from abandoned coal mines,with the pH value of the sediment being<2.5,resulting in the low bacterial richness and diversity of the tributary samples.Acidophillic Fe-and S-metabolizing bacteria,such as Metallibacterium,Acidiphilium,and Acidithiobacillus,were the dominant genera in Group P samples,while the Group R was dominated by the neutral anaerobic iron-reducing bacteria Geothrix and Geobacter.Results of principal co-ordinates analysis(PCoA)revealed that the bacterial communities are significantly different between groups P and R,and the significant different species were mainly attributed to phylum Proteobacteria,Actinobacteria,and Acidobacteria.The distribution of the microbial community is mainly influenced by pH,and the Fe and Cd concentrations.Metallicactrium,the dominant genus,is negatively correlated with pH(R^(2)=-0.95)and positively correlated with Fe(R^(2)=0.99),while Geothrix and Geobacter,are mainly affected by the heavy metals.This study determined the impact of river pollution caused by abandoned coal mine drainage,especially on the microbial diversity and community composition within the river sediment.

Characteristics of water contamination in abandoned coal mines:a case study on Yudong River area,Kaili,Guizhou Province,China

The seasonal and spatial changes in the chemical composition of the water in abandoned mine drainages and rivers in Yudong River area in the years of 2017-2018 were analyzed.The effects of mine water drainage on the seasonality and physicochemical properties of the river water after mine closure were evaluated,and the feasibility of irrigation using river water and the degree of pollution to farmland were assessed using the Water Quality Standard for Farmland Irrigation.The results show that the mine water has low pH value(<3.5-4)and high levels of total hardness,SO_(4)^(2−),Fe,Al,and Zn.In addition,the pH of the mine water is negatively correlated with the presence of other metal ions.The correlation coefficient between the chemical oxygen demand(COD)and Fe reached 0.989.While the pollution levels of Pinglu and Baishui rivers were low,the confluence region of the two rivers was seriously polluted.However,only the levels of Fe and Cd slightly exceeded the Surface Water Environmental Quality Standard after the confluence of Yudong and Chongan rivers.Overall,the heavy pollution type of the confluent river is consistent with mine water pollution.The water quality is slightly better in the dry season compared than in the high-water period.Sulfate and Fe content decreased by 39 and 16 mg/L,respectively,and Cd content decreased two-fold.Despite these findings,this study shows that from 2017 to 2018,the pH and Cd content of the rivers at the confluence exceeded the irrigation limit and the water quality continued to deteriorate,which may pose a soil contamination risk.Long-term use of the river for irrigation water may cause toxic elements such as Cd,Fe,Mn,SO_(4)^(2−),Al,and F-to enter the food chain,thereby endangering the life and health of villagers in Yudong River area.

Occurrence and release of cadmium, chromium, and lead from stone coal combustion

Stone coal,which has high ash yield,low carbon content,and low calorific value,releases toxic elements during the combustion process.In this study,samples were collected from an open-pit stone coal mine in the southern Shaanxi province,China.A simulated combustion experiment and sequential chemical extraction were applied to investigate the enrichment,occurrence,and release of Cr,Cd,and Pb in raw stone coal and ash.The contents of Cr,Cd,and Pb in raw stone coal were larger than those reported for other coals in China and worldwide.The enrichment factors of Cr,Cd,and Pb in ash at different temperatures exceeded 0.7,with the exception of Cd at 1000 ℃.This indicates that Cr,Cd,and Pb were first enriched at low temperature (below 600 ℃) and then volatilized at high temperature due to the decomposition of clay minerals.The dominant forms of toxic elements in raw stone coal were Fe-Mn-bound Cr and Cd and carbonates of Pb.As the temperature increased,the organic forms decreased obviously,and the residual forms increased;however,the Fe-Mn-bound forms remained the dominant forms of Cr,Cd,and Pb.

Distribution and modes of occurrence of uranium in coals of Eastern Yunnan,China

Uranium is an environmentally hazardous element,and is commonly present at trace levels(2.4 μg/g for world coals)in coal deposits.However,selected coal deposits could be highly enriched in uranium.In this study,15 coal samples were collected from Eastern Yunnan coal deposits,China,aiming to characterize the distribution and the occurrence of uranium in those coals.In studied samples,uranium content varied from 0.36 to 8.28 μg/g,with an average value of 3.76 lg/g.Generally,uranium content in coals from northern coal mines(3.02±2.44 μg/g,n=5)were lower than it in southern coal mines(4.13±2.30 μg/g,n=10).Uranium in coal samples showed no obvious correlation with total sulfur,whereas was positively correlated with ash yield.The results of sequential chemical extraction procedure confirm that organic-bound is the dominant occurrence of uranium.The slight enrichment of uranium in studied coals was probably attributed to sedimentation processes,hydrological conditions and tectonic structure of the coal deposits.

Environmental risk assessment of industrial byproduct gypsum utilized for flling abandoned mines

In response to the basic policy of green and low-carbon circular development to solve resource,environmental and ecological problems,gypsum is considered to be a flling material for mine backflling.To explore the potential risks of gypsum to the groundwater environment due to the backflling of abandoned mines,a sequential batch leaching experiment was carried out in this paper,which used three types of industrial waste gypsum,namely,phosphorus gypsum(PG),titanium gypsum(TG)and fue gas desulfurization gypsum(FGDG).COMSOL Multiphysics 5.4 software was used to simulate and solve the migration process of the leached metal elements in the mine foor when these three gypsum types were used as flling materials to observe the concentration distributions and difusion distances of the metal elements from these three gypsum types in the mine foor.The results show that(1)during repeated contact of the three types of industrial waste gypsum with the leaching medium,the pH levels changed,and the changes in pH afected the leaching patterns for the heavy metal elements in the gypsum.(2)Based on the concentrations of the metal elements that were leached from the three types of gypsum,it can be determined that these three types of gypsum are not classifed as hazardous solid wastes,but they cannot be ruled out with regard to their risk to the groundwater environment when they are used as mine flling materials.(3)When the three types of gypsum are used as flling materials,the concentration distributions of the metal elements and their migration distances all exhibit signifcant changes over time.The concentration distributions,difusion rates and migration distances of the metal elements from the diferent gypsum types are afected by their initial concentrations in the leachate.The maximum migration distances of Zn in the foor from the PG,FGDG and TG are 8.2,8.1 and 7.5 m,respectively.

Fabrication of bimetallic Ag/Fe immobilized on modified biochar for removal of carbon tetrachloride

As an effective conventional absorbent, biochar exhibited limited adsorption ability toward small hydrophobic molecules. To enhance the adsorption capacity, a novel adsorbent was prepared by immobilizing nanoscale zero-valent iron onto modified biochar（MB） and then the elemental silver was attached to the surface of iron（Ag/Fe/MB）. It＇s noted that spherical Ag/Fe nanoparticles with diameter of 51 nm were highly dispersed on the surface of MB. As the typical hydrophobic contaminant, carbon tetrachloride was selected for examining the removal efficiency of the adsorbent. The removal efficiencies of carbon tetrachloride by original biochar（OB）, Ag/Fe, Ag/Fe/OB and Ag/Fe/MB were fully investigated. It＇s found that Ag/Fe/MB showed higher carbon tetrachloride removal efficiency, which is about 5.5 times higher than that of the OB sample due to utilizing the merits of high adsorption and reduction. Thermodynamic parameters revealed that the removal of carbon tetrachloride by Ag/Fe/MB was a spontaneous and exothermic process, which was affected by solution p H, initial carbon tetrachloride concentration and temperature. The novel Ag/Fe/MB composites provided a promising material for carbon tetrachloride removal from effluent.