Hostname: page-component-7bb8b95d7b-cx56b Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-09-11T09:27:07.506Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Geochemical behaviour and mineralogical transformations during spontaneous combustion of a coal waste pile in Oslavany, Czech Republic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

P. Dokoupilová ,
O. Sracek  and
Z. Losos
P. Dokoupilová*
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic
O. Sracek
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic Ochrana podzemních vod (OPV s.r.o.; Protection of ground water Ltd), Bělohorská, 169 00 Prague 6, Czech Republic
Z. Losos
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic
*
E-mail: PavlaDokoupil@seznam.cz
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Geochemical processes and mineralogical transformations in the spontaneously combusting coal waste pile of the Kukla mine in Oslavany, Czech Republic, were investigated. The aims of the study were: (1) the characterization of secondary minerals; and (2) determination of processes which influence the mobility of elements in the pile. The pile burned from the late 19th century until the 1990s and has acquired a zoned nature, with original black material in the core of the pile, red material produced by burning close to the pile slopes and grey and white efflorescent salts precipitated on the pile top and slopes. Several mineral assemblages have been identified including (1) primary minerals in the black material including bituminous coal to anthracite, micas, pyrite and goethite; (2) hematite, spinels and corundum in the red materialproduced by pyrometamorphism; and (3) hydrated sulphates of magnesium including hexahydrite, konyaite and picromerite in efflorescent precipitates on the slopes of the pile. A conceptual model of geochemical processes in the pile includes seasonal changes with mineral dissolution during the wet season and precipitation of efflorescent salt minerals during the dry season. Formation of secondary minerals such as hematite, which is resistant to weathering and immobilizes hydrolysable Fe, may have a positive environmental impact in the long term.

Keywords

waste pilecoalcombustionhematiteevaporationMg sulphates
Type
Research Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 71 , Issue 4 , August 2007 , pp. 443 - 460
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Appelo, C.A.J. and Postma, D. (2005) Geochemistry, Groundwater and Pollution. 2nd edition, A.A. Balkema Publishers, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 649 pp.Google Scholar
Bouška, V., Pešek, J. and Sýkorová, I. (2000) Probable modes of occurrence of chemical elements in coal. Acta Montana, B10, 117.pp.Google Scholar
Didari, V. and Ökten, G. (1994) Spontaneous combustion of coaland prevention methods. Pp. 215–221 in: Coal–resources, Properties, Utilization, Pollution (Kural, O., editor). Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul.Google Scholar
Doesburg, J.D.J., Vergouwen, L. and Plas, L. (1982) Konyaite, Na2Mg(SO4)2.5H2O, a new mineralfrom the Great Konya Basin, Turkey. American Mineralogist, 67, 1035–1038.Google Scholar
Dold, B. and Fontboté, L. (2001) Element cycling and secondary mineralogy in porphyry copper tailings as a function of climate, primary mineralogy, and mineralpr ocessing. Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 74, 3–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drever, J.I. (1997) The Geochemistry of Natural Waters, Surface and Groundwater Environments. 3rd edition, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, USA.Google Scholar
Evans, K.A., Gandy, C.J. and Banwart, S.A. (2003) Mineralogical, numerical and analytical studies of the coupled oxidation of pyrite and coal. Mineralogical Magazine, 67, 381–398.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feenstra, A., Sämann, S. and Wunder, B. (2005) An experimental study of Fe–Al solubility in the system corundum–hematite up to 40 kbar and 1300oC. Journal of Petrology, 46, 1881–1892.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gieré, R., Sidenko, N.V. and Lazareva, E.V. (2003) The role of secondary minerals in controlling the migration of arsenic and metals from high–sulfide wastes (Berikulgo ld mine, Siberia). Applied Geochemistry, 18, 1347–1359.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grossman, S.L. and Cohen, H. (1998a) Emission of toxic explosive and fire hazardous gases in coal piles stored under atmospheric conditions (part I). Energeia, CAER–University of Kentucky, 9(3), 1–5.Google Scholar
Grossman, S.L. and Cohen, H. (1998b) Emission of toxic explosive and fire hazardous gases in coal piles stored under atmospheric conditions (part II). Energeia, CAER–University of Kentucky, 9(4), 1–4.Google Scholar
Hardie, L.A. and Eugster, H.P. (1970) The evolution of closed basin brines. In: The Geochemistry of Natural Waters, Surface and Groundwater Environments, 3rd edition, (Drever, J.I., editor). Prentice Hall, New Jersey, USA.Google Scholar
Houzar, S. and Sejkora, J. (1999) Minerals of burning piles at Zastávka at Brno and Oslavany–overview of recent state of investigation (In Czech). Minerál VII, 5, 410–414.Google Scholar
Klein, C. and Hurlbut, Jr. C.S. (1993) Manual of Mineralogy. John Wiley and Sons, New York, 681 pp.Google Scholar
Kühnel, R.A., McCarthy, G.J., Eylands, K.E., Schmit, C.R. and Watne–Shuster, T.M. (1998) Atlas of minerals and related phases in unaltered and thermally altered materials from the Rocky Mountain 1underground coal gasification field site. Gas Research Institute TopicalReport GRI–97/0067, 209 pp.Google Scholar
Langmuir, D. (1997) Aqueous Environmental Geochemistry. Prentice Hall, New Jersey, USA, 600 pp.Google Scholar
Lefebvre, R., Hockley, D., Smolensky, J. and Gélinas, P. (2001) Multiphase transport in waste–rock piles producing acid mine drainage: 1. Conceptualmodel and system characterization. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, 52, 137–164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pešek, J., Drábková, J., Holub, V., Prouza, V., Šimůnek, Z. and Tásler, R. (2001) Geology and Deposits of Upper Paleozoic Limnic Basins in the Czech Republic (in Czech). ČeskýGeologickýÚstav, Praha (Czech Geological Survey, Prague), 1–243.Google Scholar
Reardon, E.J. (1992) Aqueous Geochemistry and Modelling (course notes). University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.Google Scholar
Reardon, E.J., Czank, C.A., Warren, C.J., Dayal, R. and Johnston, H.M. (1995) Determining controls in fly ash leachate. Water Resource Management, 13, 435–450.Google Scholar
Rüger, F. and Witzke, T. (1998) Häufige Begleiterscheinung des Ronneburger Uranerzbergbaus. Brände durch Selbstentzündung, 23, 19–23.Google Scholar
Salzsauer, K.A., Sidenko, N.V. and Sheriff, B.L. (2005) Arsenic mobility in alteration products of sulfiderich, arsenopyrite–bearing mine wastes, Snow Lake, Manitoba, Canada. Applied Geochemistry, 20, 2303–2314.Google Scholar
Seal, R.R. I. and Hammarstrom, J.M. (2003) Geoenvironmentalmo dels of mineraldep osits: Examples from massive sulphide and gold deposits. Pp. 11–50 in: Environmental Aspects of Mine Wastes (Jambor, J.L., Blowes, D.W. and Ritchie, A.I.M., editors). 31, Mineralogical Association of Canada.Google Scholar
Sejkora, J. (2002) Mineral association of the burning coal mine dump of the Kateřina mine at Radvanice near Trutnov and processes of its origin (in Czech). PhD Thesis, Department of Geological Sciences, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic, 144 pp.Google Scholar
Smuda, J., Dold, B., Friese, K., Morgenstern, P. and Glaesser, W. (2007) Mineralogical and geochemical study of element mobility at the sulfide–rich Excelsior waste–rock dump from the polymetallic Zn–Pb–(Ag–Bi–Cu) deposit, Cerro de Pasco, Peru. Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 92, 97–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sracek, O., Choquette, M., Gélinas, P., Lefebvre, R. and Nicholson, R.V. (2004) Geochemical characterization of acid mine drainage from a waste rock pile, Mine Doyon, Québec, Canada. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, 69, 45–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sracek, O., Gélinas, P., Lefebvre, R. and Nicholson, R.V. (2006) Comparison of methods for the estimation of pyrite oxidation rate in a waste rock pile at Mine Doyon site, Québec, Canada. Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 91, 99–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strunz, H. and Nickel, E.H. (2001) Strunz Mineralogical Tables. 9th edition, Stuttgart, Germany, 870 pp.Google Scholar
Taran, J.A., Hedenquist, J.W., Koržinski, M.A., Tkačenko, S.I. and Šmulovič, K.I. (1995) Geochemistry of magmatic gases from Kudriavy volcano, Iturup, Kuril Islands. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 1749–1761.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Krevelen, D.W. (1993) Coal: Typology – Physics – Chemistry – Constitution. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 771 pp.Google Scholar
Weiss, D., Šulcek, Z. and Dempir, J. (1983) Methods of the Chemical Analysis of Raw Materials (in Czech), part 1–3. ČeskýGeologickýÚstav, Praha (Czech Geological Survey, Prague), 458 pp.Google Scholar
Younger, P.L., Banwart, S.A. and Hedin, R.S. (2002) Mine Water, Hydrology, Pollution, Remediation. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 442 pp.Google Scholar