In October 2019, the LIFE DEMINE pilot plan began its operation at the first demonstration site, Frongoch abandoned mine (Wales, UK). The pilot plant will be continuosly operating in Frongoch until June 2020, when it will be deployed to the second demonstration site located in Germany.
Deployment at these two sites is essential to demonstrate the general character of the treatment process illustrating that the technology can potentially be applied to different mine workings. Technical, economic and environmental feasibility of the process will be demonstrated on-site using real operational conditions and accounting for temporal variation of environmental conditions and mine wastewater composition.
To do that, during the demonstration period different tools will be evaluated by ELENTEC to monitor and assess the performance of the LIFE DEMINE technology. This information will be useful to check and optimize the technology performance.
The steps of the process will be evaluated separately and all together by means of on-line sensors and sampling campaigns. In particular, the following processes are taking place in the operation of the pilot plant:
- Collection of the mining effluent in a tank
- Electrocoagulation treatment
- Nanofiltration treatment
- Final disposal to the stream
Finally, at the end of the operational period, a sampling campaing will be carried out in the rivers affected by Frongoch mining effluent to assess how the LIFE DEMINE technology has improved their ecological status after several months of operating.