Abstract
Coal mining in Santa Catarina, South Brazil, impacted the environment by means of a large number of coal waste piles emplaced over the old mine sites and the adjacent areas of the Criciúma, Urussanga, and Siderópolis. Poor disposal of coal cleaning rejects represents significant environmental concerns due to their potential influence on soils and river sediments, as well as on the surface and groundwater in the surroundings of these zones. In this research advanced analytical techniques were performed to provide an improved understanding of the complex processes related with sulfide-rich coal waste oxidation, spontaneous combustion, sequences of mineral formation, and the transport mechanisms of hazardous elements by neoformed soluble nanominerals and ultrafine particles. The results showed the presence of massive amorphous Si-Al-Fe-Ti-Zr (oxy-) hydroxides and Fe-hydr/oxides with goethite and hematite with various degrees of crystallinity, containing hazardous elements, such as Cr, Hf, Hg, Mo, Ni, Se, Pb, Th, U, Zr, and others. Several of the neoformed nanominerals found in the burned coal rejects are the same as those commonly associated with coal mine drainage, in which oxidation of sulfides plays an important role to environment and human health. This is the first Brazilian coal spontaneous combustion research.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 50-60 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | International Journal of Coal Geology |
| Volume | 122 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Feb 1 2014 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors thank the CNPq-Ciência sem Fronteiras, FAPERGS and Electron Microscopy Center of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul for the analyses. The research for this study was carried out with the support from the Institute of Environmental Research and Human Development (IPADH) and the Centro Universitário LaSalle-Canoas . The authors wish to acknowledge Dr. Carlos H. Sampaio and University of Rio Grande do Sul, for assistance with HR-TEM analyses.
Funding
The authors thank the CNPq-Ciência sem Fronteiras, FAPERGS and Electron Microscopy Center of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul for the analyses. The research for this study was carried out with the support from the Institute of Environmental Research and Human Development (IPADH) and the Centro Universitário LaSalle-Canoas . The authors wish to acknowledge Dr. Carlos H. Sampaio and University of Rio Grande do Sul, for assistance with HR-TEM analyses.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Centro Universitário LaSalle-Canoas | |
| IPADH | |
| Catarinense Institute of Environmental Research and Human Development (IPADHC) |
Keywords
- Coal mine reject
- Goethite
- Hazardous element
- Hematite
- Neoformed nanominerals effect
- Sulfides/carbonates oxidation
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Fuel Technology
- Geology
- Economic Geology
- Stratigraphy
