Composition for treating an excavation activity

a technology for excavation and composition, applied in the direction of sealing/packing, transportation and packaging, borehole/well accessories, etc., can solve the problems of generating various forms of environmental harmful pollution, byproducts and conditions, and water-dispersed active ingredients often failing to reach all byproducts and conditions requiring treatment before passing through the excavation site, so as to reduce acid rock drainage

Inactive Publication Date: 2015-07-02
GOLDER ASSOCIATES
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The reagent-foam mixture effectively penetrates and coats the affected areas, reducing ARD production and allowing for more efficient and cost-effective treatment with less water consumption, enabling complete coverage of excavation sites with fewer injection points and facilitating valuable resource recovery.

Problems solved by technology

Byproducts and conditions associated with excavation activities are known to lead to the generation of various forms of environmentally harmful pollution.
As shown in FIG. 1, however, the byproducts and conditions associated with excavation activities are often buried, widely dispersed, and otherwise inaccessible to direct application of the active ingredients, requiring a combination of closely-spaced boreholes, gravity, and voluminous amounts of water to transport the active ingredients to the affected areas to be treated.
Although effective at reducing or preventing ARD for the areas actually reached, the water-dispersed active ingredients often fail to reach all of the byproducts and conditions requiring treatment before passing through the excavation site.

Method used

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  • Composition for treating an excavation activity
  • Composition for treating an excavation activity
  • Composition for treating an excavation activity

Examples

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example 1

[0035]An excavation activity comprises a twenty acre excavation deposit containing a pollution generating pyrite-bearing rock zone that has been delineated through borehole and geophysical data. The excavation deposit has a total volume of approximately 3.2 million cubic yards, of which approximately one-third or 1.1 million cubic yards is void space. Approximately 25% of the excavation deposit volume (i.e., approximately 806,000 cubic yards) contains the pollution generating pyrite-bearing rock, with approximately 266,000 cubic yards of voids in this pollution-generating zone.

[0036]The designed distribution network includes a commercial air compressor with a capacity of 100 cubic feet per minute and a standard pressure of 100 pounds per square inch, a pump with a capacity from 5 to 20 gallons per minute, tanks, and other conventional foam-generating equipment connected generally as shown in FIG. 2. The designed piping system includes 4-inch diameter pipe installed in a plurality of...

example no.2

Example No. 2

[0039]An excavation activity comprises a 200 acre abandoned open pit mine site that exposes a fractured, pyrite-bearing rock zone that has been delineated through borehole, geochemical data, and geologic interpretation. The fracture zone is a combination of natural geological conditions and over-break from blasting activity in creating the excavation. The zone of intense fracturing extends at least 100 feet into the excavation wall rock and through the floor of each bench, as shown in FIG. 5. The fractures constitute less than 1% of the total rock mass volume. Every linear foot of excavation bench includes an estimated 150 cubic yards of rock, of which 1.5 cubic yards are void space. There are 2 miles of bench in the pyrite-rock exposure, resulting in 15,840 cubic yards of fracture that requires treatment in this pollution-generating zone.

[0040]The designed distribution network includes a commercial air compressor with a capacity of 100 cubic feet per minute and a stand...

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Abstract

A composition for treating an excavation activity includes a reagent suspended in foam to form a reagent-foam mixture. The reagent is selected to react with at least one of sulfides or bacteria in waste rock or tailings materials to reduce acid rock drainage. The reagent includes at least one of limestone, dolomite, sodium bicarbonate, steel slag, fly ash, or sodium hydroxide.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]The present application is a Divisional of U.S. patent application entitled “System and Method for Treating an Excavation Activity”, Ser. No. 13 / 211,074 filed on Aug. 16, 2011, all of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes. Any disclaimer that may have occurred during prosecution of the above-referenced application is hereby expressly rescinded.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention generally involves a composition for treating an excavation activity. In particular embodiments of the present invention, the composition may be used to treat byproducts and conditions associated with excavation activities to reduce acid rock drainage and / or recover valuable resources.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Byproducts and conditions associated with excavation activities are known to lead to the generation of various forms of environmentally harmful pollution. As used herein, excavation activities encompass not only ...

Claims

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Application Information

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Patent Type & AuthorityApplications(United States)
IPC IPC(8): B09C1/08B09B3/00B09C1/10
CPCB09C1/08B09B3/0016B09C1/10B09C1/02C09K8/605C09K8/94E21B33/138E21F15/005E21F15/08B09B3/80
InventorGUSEK, JAMES J.MASLOFF, BRIAN P.FODOR, JOHN C.
OwnerGOLDER ASSOCIATES