APPLICATION OF ION EXCHANGE TO
ACID MINE DRAINAGE TREATMENT
Roger C. Wilmoth, Project Engineer
Robert B. Scott, Chief
Crown Field Site
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Rivesville, West Virginia 26588
Eugene F. Harris, Chief
Extraction Technology Branch
Industrial Environmental Research Laboratory
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Cincinnati, Ohio 45268
INTRODUCTION
Coal is returning to prominence as the nation's primary energy resource.   Expansion
of mining operations and increases in production are stressed almost daily by energy
officials in response to the current energy crisis.   As mining operations expand, the quantities of pyritic materials in the strata surrounding the coal seams that are exposed to
natural oxidation forces are similarly increased; this increased exposure creates additional
concern over the problem of acid mine drainage production.
The_Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in cooperation with industry and the
scientific community, began several years ago to investigate acid mine drainage treatment
processes that were capable of producing potable effluents. Reverse osmosis and ion exchange were foremost among these more sophisticated processes.
This paper will briefly discuss several ion exchange treatment schemes conceived for
the production of a potable water from acid mine drainage and will present specific data
from research on one of these processes currently under study by EPA at the Crown Mine
Drainage Control Field Site near Morgantown, West Virginia.
Ion exchange is defined as a "reversible exchange of ions between a solid and a liquid
in which there is no substantial change in the structure of the solids.   In this definition,
the solid is the ion exchange material (resin)" [1].
CURRENT APPLICATIONS OF ION EXCHANGE TO ACID MINE DRAINAGE
SUL-BISUL PROCESS [2,3]
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has notably been the pioneer in the development
and implementation of acid mine drainage treatment technology.   Pennsylvania has constructed two full-scale ion exchange plants on acid mine drainage (AMD).   A third plant
is in the planning stage.   The first of these plants was built in 1969 for the Smith Township community and was designed for the production of 500,000 gallons per day (gpd)
of potable water.   The plant went on-line in 1971.   Although the water problem in the
Smith Township was degraded by mining, the water to be treated turned out to be more
brackish than acidic.   The major problems were high sulfate and manganese levels.
The Sul-biSul process was chosen for this application.   A continuous countercurrent
regeneration system (the Higgins System) was utilized to provide a continuous supply of
water to the Township.   The Higgins System is a doughnut-shaped column in which the
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