Feasibility Study of Using Cement Kiln Dust as a Chemical Conditioner in the Treatment of Acidic Mine Effluent

Abstract

Water contaminated due to mining activities is often acidic and can contain high concentrations of dissolved metals. Cement kiln dust (CKD) is a fine-grained, alkaline material that is generated as a by-product of cement production. Its high lime (CaO) content makes it attractive as a substitute for quicklime in the generation of slurries for the treatment of mine water. The first part of this study analyzed six CKD samples for several physical and chemical properties to determine their variability and to compare them to the characterization of a commercial quicklime sample. Neutralization and precipitation experiments using acidic mine water containing high concentrations of zinc and iron determined that all slaked CKD slurries performed comparably to the quicklime slurry in terms of precipitation of soluble metals. The results of this research show that CKD can be effectively used to neutralize mine water and precipitate and remove dissolved metals.