Application of Oxidation-Reduction Potential and pH to Investigate a Ferric OxideWaste Disposal Pond and a Lead Processing Waste Site

摘要

The U.S. Bureau of Mines investigated the application of oxidation-reduction-potential (ORP) and pH measurements for environmental studies of mining/mineral processing wastes, and a computer program has been developed to estimate the concentrations of species of lead present in samples from a lead processing waste site. The ORP-pH values can help identify valence values and species of ions present, including those of major, minor, and trace concentrations and also indicate possible reactions at various pH values. The ORP measurements versus temperature yield data from which thermodynamic values can be calculated. The application and limitations of these measurements are discussed and a brief discussion of the computational program to identify species of lead is presented.