Understanding nucleation, growth, precipitation and breakup behaviors and surface interaction mechanisms of calcite for developing effective anti-scaling strategies in coal mining

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Canada has abundant coal reserves. Some of the coal mines carry a high concentration of calcium oxide, in the form of calcite (CaCO3) and possibly other carbonates. As water flows through the waste rock piles that contain a mixture of residual coal and overburden strata, calcite is dissolved and carried downstream. The excessive precipitation of calcite could build up the streambeds and even alter the associated stream bank vegetation, riparian areas, and channel morphology in mining operation areas, which potentially reduce the quality of the habitat for aquatic organisms. The calcite scaling typically occurs at a certain distance downstream of coal mines. Thus, calcite precipitation and scaling are very important and challenging issues for the coal mining industry. To prevent and manage calcite precipitation and concretion breakup, a fundamental understanding of the nucleation, growth and precipitation process of calcite crystals and the calcite concretion breakup process with addition of inhibitors is of great importance. Herein, we propose to investigate the nucleation, growth, precipitation and interaction mechanisms of calcite crystals with and without selected inhibitors, as well as the adsorption and interactions of inhibitors with calcite crystals, which are closely related to calcite buildup and scaling prevention. It is expected that our research findings will have profound impact on improving the fundamental understanding of the process of calcite precipitation and concretion breakup, which will help the coal mining industry develop more effective and economical approaches to manage the calcite scaling issues to avoid the associated technical and environmental issues inherent to coal operations. The outcomes of this research will not only improve the operational performance of coal mining industry, but also minimize the environmental impact. The success of this project will strengthen Canada's leadership role in the sustainable development of mineral resources and keep Canada in the forefront of new technology development that will not only benefit our society, economy, but also the environment.