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PERMEABLE REACTIVE BARRIERS IN DEEP MINING

Aleksandra Okarz

Abstract

The technology of Permeable Reactive Barriers in recent years is one of the most frequently developed methods of protecting the soil and water environment from pollution. These are zones filled with reactive material, in which during the flow of contaminated groundwater, contaminants are immobilized and/or their concentration is reduced to the limit values. Currently, there are relatively few deep installations compared to shallow systems (e.g. <10 m), resulting mainly from higher costs and technical difficulties associated with the introduction of reactive material into the rock mass and monitoring its effectiveness. The purpose of this paper is to present the concept of using reactive materials in the form of a Deep Permeable Reactive Barrier in deposit exploitation. An important role of the barrier used is to secure critical sites from the point of view of pollutants migration. The barrier's task is to remove or bind selected components that are the most dangerous for the environment. The paper focuses on solutions in the method of introducing a reactive deposit into the rock mass. Depending on the stage of deposit exploitation and the generated pollution, appropriate techniques have been proposed to slow down and/or neutralize liquid and gaseous pollutants and define the perspectives and limitations of the applied method. The presented concept is innovative and can be widely used in geoengineering. A novelty is the use of a barrier limiting the potential risk of contamination spreading in case of uncontrolled and unpredictable operation, in emergency situations related to gas leaks to the environment, underground fires and water pollution with high toxicity substances. The use of a permeable reactive barrier is also aimed at limiting leaching of pollutants from the working environment after the deposit exploitation.

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DOI resolver: doi.org/10.5593/sgem2018/1.2/s02.068

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