Passive Treatments for Mine Drainage: A Guide for Early Researchers

This book allows readers to grasp both the fundamentals and the latest technological advances in the field of mine drainage, which is increasingly crucial both environmentally and economically. Its extensive coverage of current and promising passive treatment technologies, combined with numerous practical guides, makes it an indispensable tool for early researchers seeking promising trends and identifying gaps.

The book systematically explores recent literature on passive treatment research, classifying them as preventative, in-situ, and ex-situ solutions. It covers relevant passive treatments such as permeable reactive barriers, constructed wetlands, gravel bed reactors, saturated rock fills, and passivation techniques, among other common source control tactics. Each technology is discussed in terms of principal mechanisms, state-of-the-art technological advances, advantages and disadvantages, and suitability for a given mine drainage chemistry and flow regime. Thebook provides a comprehensive view of the entire field, offering researchers and policymakers a reference guide, research ideas, understanding, and practical applications for each technology.

Furthermore, the contains an overview of recent trends in material selection for passive treatment applications, primarily through the use of industrial waste and by-products, which incorporate more sustainable practices in mine drainage remediation. Uniquely, the manuscript includes a flowchart based on water chemistry and flow rates to guide readers to ideal treatment options, along with written analysis to further support the readers’ decision-making. Overall, this equips early researchers in the field with knowledge of fundamentals and promising research routes when dealing with different mine drainage complexities while also providing them with promising research avenues that can advance the field further.

Cassandra Chidiac is Ph.D. Student in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry at the University of Toronto where she currently holds the NSERC PGS-D (Postgraduate Scholarships―Doctoral) award. Her research is currently focused on integrating passive advanced oxidation processes with biological treatments and finding synergisms among these treatments that are necessitated when remediating hard-to-treat industrial waters. Prior to her Ph.D., Cassandra completed her Bachelor of Engineering and Biosciences at McMaster University where she graduated Summa Cum Laude and was awarded three NSERC USRA (Undergraduate student research) awards. Once completed her undergraduate studies, Cassandra joined the accelerated MASc program at McMaster University where she was Recipient of the NSERC CGS-M (Canadian Graduate Scholarship―Master’s program). Her research throughout her MASc and bachelor’s, through her USRA scholarships, focused on using microbes for water remediation andbio-sensing

Aaron Bleasdale-Pollowy is MASc Student in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry at the University of Toronto, studying the use of passive technologies for remediating mine-impacted water. His work focuses on the harnessing of solar light and deploying novel floating photocatalysts that sit atop of water bodies to block and treat emissions of volatile organic compounds such as methane, BTEX, PAH’s, and alkanes. His efforts are focused on determining how the harsh environmental conditions of mine-impacted water impact the efficacy of the process, as well as using the same technology for removing metals and degrading organics in situ.

Dr. Andrew Holmes is Process Engineer with a focus on industrial water and mining at Geosyntec Consultants in their Toronto Office. Prior to joining Geosyntec, Dr. Holmes received his Ph.D. from the University of Waterloo, Canada, where he majored in chemical engineering with a specialization in water treatment. Dr. Holmes conducted his doctoral research on selenium treatment of industrially impacted waters. Currently, Dr. Holmes is focused on developing water treatment, source control, and environmental remediation technologies through the design of both novel active and passive treatment methods. Passive water treatment and source control have been his recent focus to achieve stringent concentration limits on many constituents of interest in industrial effluents over extended closure timeframes.

Frank Gu is Professor, and he holds NSERC Senior Industrial Research Chair in Nanotechnology Engineering in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry at the University of Toronto. Dr. Gu received his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Queen’s University and postdoctoral training from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard Medical School. Before joining the University of Toronto in July 2018, Dr. Gu was Associate Professor and held Canada Research Chair in Nanotechnology Engineering at the University of Waterloo. Dr. Gu has established a frontier research program in Nanotechnology Engineering, with significant advances in medical and life science applications. His current research areas focus on passive water treatment using solar-powered photocatalysis and the circular economy of valuable elements from mine waste. Dr. Gu has trained over 150 undergraduate and postgraduate researchers, and he authored and co-authored over 200 journal and conference publications in the areas of nanotechnology, biomedical engineering, and sustainability.