Control Technology Research and Environmental Methodologies for the Mitigation of Underground Coal Gasification Impacts: Research Plan for Task 2 - Control Technology Evaluation for UCG-Affected Subsurface Waters

摘要

A UCG-affected subsurface water was synthesized with altered groundwater and process condensate from the Hanna, Wyoming UCG site. Results of preliminary analyses indicate that concentrations of organics in the UCG-affected subsurface water closely resemble worst-case contamination expected after UCG operations. The subsurface water contained significant amounts of phenols, ammonia, total dissolved solids, sulfate, and selected metals, compared with preburn concentrations in Hanna subsurface water. A literature review was performed to identify cost-effective treatments for removal of the UCG-induced contaminants. Coagulation-precipitation, hot-gas stripping, activated-carbon adsorption, and reverse osmosis were recommended for a feasibility study to be performed with the UCG-affected subsurface water, based on the results of the literature review. The objective of all treatments was the reduction of contaminants to preburn levels. Analytical quality control procedures and a methodology for the bench-scale evaluation of the recommended treatments were presented.