Mining Publication: Discharge Water Handling and Treatment: Problems and Solutions at a Large Pittsburgh Seam Coal Mine
Original creation date: February 2001
Recently, a large Pittsburgh seam longwall mine was nearing depletion of a major portion of its current reserves and had begun to develop in a different direction from its original portal area to access additional reserves. This meant that a large area of the mine would be abandoned and sealed. However, continued use of the original mine portal area required that the water accumulating in the abandoned mine would eventually need to be pumped to the surface. This would be in addition to the discharge water associated with the new portion of the mine. Several pumping and sump options were investigated to handle the quantity and quality of the anticipated discharge water. This paper describes some of these options, their advantages and disadvantages, and the final engineering decisions. Some problems and unanticipated outcomes, as well as the eventual solutions are discussed, including: (1) estimates of pump requirements, (2) water pool size, (3) eventual water quality, (4) anticipated inflows, and (5) integration into the overall mine water system.
Authors: JD Byars, TP Mucho, RL Zick
Conference Paper - February 2001
NIOSHTIC2 Number: 20021270
Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration Annual Meeting 2001 Feb 26-28 :1-8
See Also
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- Environmental Impacts of Cemented Mine Waste Backfill
- Evaluation of Two-Phase Spray System for Airborne Dust Control in a Longwall Gallery
- Guidelines for Permitting, Construction, and Monitoring of Retention Bulkheads in Underground Coal Mines
- Modeling the Effects of Longwall Mining on the Ground Water System
- Technology News 460 - Prototype Borehole Miner Selectively Extracts Gold from Permafrost
- Transport of Total Tailings Paste Backfill: Results of Full-Scale Pipe Test Loop Pumping Tests
- Use of Vertical Boreholes for Assisting Ventilation of Longwall Gob Areas
- Page last reviewed: 9/21/2012
- Page last updated: 9/21/2012
- Content source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Mining Program