Mitigation of filter fouling in a mine wastewater remediation system

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CEC Mining Systems Corp. manufactures mine waste dewatering systems based on traditional rotary vacuum disc filters. These systems are used to dewater mine tailings to more than 80% solids. This enables storage as a packed solid, reducing or eliminating the need for tailings ponds and the associated dams or weirs and, thereby, reducing both water consumption and land use. This technology offers a cost-effective and environmentally safe alternative to the conventional tailings management facilities which have been the de-facto regime in Canada for the past 150 years. The filter media in this system is a ceramic-polymer blend, which is formed in plates that are secured to the faces of the rotating discs. Although these filter plates are backwashed once in each revolution of the system rotor, irreversible performance degradation ultimately reduces effectiveness such that plates must either be removed for ultrasonic/acid cleaning or replaced. Both plate cleaning and plate replacement can represent a significant component of total cost of dewatering operations. The objectives of the proposed research are: (1) to refine the sample preparation and examination protocols developed under the Engage grant; (2) to apply the protocol to field-fouled filter samples to assess fouling mechanisms; and (3) to assess utilization of the filter plate surface area. This work will guide the development of research strategies to identify system modifications that will lead to enhanced system performance. Advancement of the body of work surrounding the factors attributed to ceramic plate degradation would allow for more mining operators in Canada to adopt "dry-stacking" as a practice. By de-risking the selection criteria (e.g. cost estimations) between tailings management solutions, CEC would be in a position to positively impact the current and projected liabilities to local communities, regional and federal governments and shareholders of mining companies.