Study of the Feasibility of Reverse Osmosis Membrane Process for Selenium Removal and Water Reuse of Mine Water in Cold Climates

考虑到采矿活动中对水的综合利用，矿山废水中可能含有较高的亚硒酸盐和亚硒酸盐浓度的污染废水数量巨大。即使在石灰沉淀后，作为常规处理方法，硒浓度也在200微克·L-1以上。为了解决这一问题，人们对沉淀法、离子交换法、电凝聚法、零价铁等不同的化学、生物和物理方法进行了广泛的研究，但这些方法在经济上都不可行。此外，未来的法规趋势是迫使矿业减少对周围环境的不利影响。事实上，水的再利用将是一种有趣的、经济上可行的零废物采矿方法。反渗透是一个有吸引力的选择，可以同时满足这两个要求。在此背景下，西蒂斯环境公司开发了新一代反渗透(RO)，能够有效地将高含盐量矿物分离为纯水渗透液和浓缩盐水。随着他们与其他行业的合作，调查包括矿山行业在内的其他市场对公司的促进作用非常大。在这一尝试中，他们倾向于与CTRI合作，展示和验证他们的反渗透技术在去除矿山废水中硒的效率，特别是在寒冷的气候下。为了在给定的期限内实现项目目标，该项目将受益于多学科团队和可操作的研发基础设施；这是在给定的期限内实现项目目标的基本要素

Considering versatile utilization of water in mining activities, huge amount of contaminated effluent that may contain high selenate and selenite concentration in mine effluent. Even after lime precipitation, as a conventional treatment method, selenium concentration is more than 200 µg.L-1. In order to resolve this problem, different chemical, biological and physical process such as, precipitation, ion exchange, electro-coagulation and zero valent iron have been widely investigated, yet, none of them is economically feasible. Furthermore, future regulations trend to force mine industry to reduce detrimental effect on the surrounding environment. Indeed, water reuse will be an interesting and economically viable approach toward zero-waste mining. Reverse osmosis is an attractive option, which could meet both of those requirements. In this context, Thetis Environmental has developed a new generation of reverse osmosis (RO) capable of effective separation of high salt content minerals into pure water permeate and concentrated brine. As they are collaborating with other industrial sectors, investigating other markets including mine sector is very promoting for the company. For this attempt, they tend to collaborate with the CTRI to demonstrate and validate the efficiency of their RO technology for selenium removal in mine effluents especially in cold climate. For achieving the project's objectives within the given deadlines, this project will be profited from a multidisciplinary team and an operational R&D infrastructure; essential ingredients for achieving the project's objectives within the given deadlines