In 2015, the UN member states adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Despite significant progress, billions of people – one in three people – do not have access to safe, clean drinking water. Modern wastewater treatment methods include a wide range of biological, chemical and physical processes, each having its own advantages and applications. This thematic volume considers the latest achievements in wastewater treatment technologies, wastewater purification and treatment as well as their potential applications at the local level. The problem of surface water pollution is relevant for all regions of the world. One of the largest sources of pollutants is mining and processing industry. The first stage in the development of wastewater treatment technologies is monitoring of anthropogenically modified water bodies.
The article presents an alternative method of utilization of blast furnace slag and leachate from solid municipal waste landfills, the formation of which occurs during the infiltration of atmospheric precipitation through the thickness of deposited waste. The method is based on the conversion of leachate from the liquid phase to the solid aggregate state by lithification using blast furnace slag as an astringent material. The hydraulic activity of slag, which depends on the amount of oxides contained in it, has been estimated. The investigated slag belongs to the 3rd grade, which confirms the possibility of its use as an astringent material. The filtrate was analyzed for the content of various elements, and the maximum permissible concentrations for each element were found to be exceeded. Chemical and biological oxygen demand were determined, and critically high values were installed (17200 mgO2/l and 4750 mgO2/l, respectively). The lithification process was divided into two stages. The first stage was to reduce the organic component in the filtrate using a coagulant, aluminum sulfate; the second stage was slag hydration. The optimum ratio of lithificate components in terms of mixture solidification rate was established at 1:0.03:1.25 (leachate, coagulant, blast furnace slag). The obtained material was analyzed for the solubility and content of various forms of metal. It is established that at infiltration of atmospheric precipitations through lithificate only 3 % of material will be washed out; concentrations of gross and mobile forms of heavy metals do not exceed the maximum permissible, except for the gross content of arsenic, mobile, and water-soluble forms of which were not found. The values of chemical (687 mgO2/l) and biological (173 mgO2/l) oxygen demand in the aqueous extract from lithificate decreased more than 25 times in comparison with the initial filtrate. According to the results of toxicological studies, lithificate was assigned an IV class of waste hazard, which confirms the possibility of its use as bulk material at landfills.
Mining activities were producing large quantities of wastewater contaminated with nitrogen compounds and metals. With insufficient treatment, these pollutants are released into the environment and have a toxic effect on living organisms. Constructed wetlands are now widely adopted as wastewater treatment systems because of the combination of physical, chemical and biological processes for the removal of contaminants. In this study, an experimental system was modeled to improve the efficiency of the quarry wastewater treatment of a mining enterprise by sharing the higher aquatic vegetation: broad-leaved cattail (Typha latifolia L.), common water-plantain (Alisma plantago-aquatica L.), jointed rush (Juncus articulatus L.) and lower aquatic vegetation (Chlorella sp.). Concentrations of nitrogen compounds and metal were analyzed both in the model and in the treated solution of quarry wastewater for calculation of treatment efficiency. Concentrations of the pollutants in the tissues of the higher aquatic vegetation were analyzed to assess the accumulation capacity and efficiency of translocation of the pollutants. The results of the experimental study showed the practical applicability of the constructed integrated treatment system to reduce the concentration of pollutants in quarry wastewater, as well as increasing the efficiency of treatment by introducing lower aquatic vegetation into the system
In 2015, UN Member States adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, aimed at balancing initiatives by the world community and individual countries in the environmental, social, and economic spheres. The global sustainable development goals are to promote the well-being of the world population, preserve the planet’s resources, and maintain ecological security, which is vital in the age of the rapid industrial growth and ever-increasing anthropogenic pressure on the environment. For the successful achievement of sustainability goals in the manufacturing sector, integrated measures should be undertaken for monitoring and assessing the technogenic impact of industrial facilities. Additionally, it is necessary to develop environmentally-friendly technologies in the fields of gas and water treatment, land reclamation, and waste disposal. Therefore, fundamental and applied research in these related spheres is of particular importance. Currently, environmental monitoring of all components of the environment, along with anthropogenic objects and processes, receives considerable attention, which is determined by the vector of development in science and technology. In this regard, the latest innovations in green technology in this area are becoming increasingly significant.
The mining industry is one of the most challenging in ensuring environmental safety. During the last century, the Karabash Copper Smelting Plant was processing sulfide ores and depositing the tailings into storage facilities that now occupy an area of more than 50 hectares. To date, abandoned tailings are a significant source of natural water, air, and soil pollution in the Karabash city district. The article comprehensively examines the environmental impact of the Karabashmed copper smelter, one of the oldest metallurgical enterprises in Russia. The effects of seepage from the two Karabashmed tailings facilities on water resources were assessed. We revealed that even outside the area of the direct impact of processing waste, the pH of natural water decreases to values 4-5. Further downstream, the infiltration water from the tailings pond No. 4 reduces the pH of river water to 3.0-3.5. The presented results of environmental engineering surveys are derived from sampling water and bottom sediments of the Ryzhiy Stream and the Sak-Elga River, sample preparation, and quantitative chemical analysis. The study revealed significant exceedances of the maximum permissible concentrations for a number of chemical elements in the impact zone of the copper ore processing tailings.
The analysis of the main environmental consequences of leaks and local spills of petroleum products at the enterprises of the mineral resource complex is presented. It is established that the problem of soil contamination with petroleum products at the facilities of the mineral resource complex and enterprises of other industries is caused by significant volumes of consumption of the main types of oil products. Based on the results of the author's previous field research, a series of experiments was carried out, consisting in modeling artificial soil pollution with petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel fuel, highly refined oil, motor oil, and transmission oil, followed by their purification by heat treatment at temperatures of 150, 200, and 250 °C. The 250 °C limit of the heating temperature was set due to the need to partially preserve the structure and quality of the soil after heat treatment to preserve its fertility. When the processing temperature rises to 450 °C, all humates are completely burned out and, as a result, productivity is lost. Confirmation is provided by the results of experiments to determine the humus content in uncontaminated soil and soil treated at different temperatures. It was found that at a maximum processing temperature of 250 °C, about 50 % of the initial organic carbon content is preserved. According to the results of the conducted experimental studies, the dependences of the required processing temperature on the concentration of petroleum products to reduce the concentration of petroleum products to an acceptable level have been established. The methodology of thermal desorption cleaning of soils with varying degrees of contamination at enterprises of the mineral resource complex is presented.
Soils and plants of Saint Petersburg are under the constant technogenic stress caused by human activity in industrial, residential, and recreational landscapes of the city. To assess the transformed landscapes of various functional zones, we studied utility, housing, and park districts with a total area of over 7,000 hectares in the southern part of the city during the summer seasons of 2016-2018. Throughout the fieldwork period, 796 individual pairs of soil and plant samples were collected. A complex of consequent laboratory studies performed in an accredited laboratory allowed the characterization of key biogeochemical patterns of urban regolith specimens and herbage samples of various grasses. Chemical analyses provided information on the concentrations of polluting metals in soils and plants of different land use zones. Data interpretation and calculation of element accumulation factors revealed areas with the most unfavorable environmental conditions. We believe that a high pollution level in southern city districts has led to a significant degree of physical, chemical, and biological degradation of the soil and vegetation cover. As of today, approximately 10 % of the Technosols in the study area have completely lost the ability to biological self-revitalization, which results in ecosystem malfunction and the urgent need for land remediation.
The article analyses waste generation of pulp and paper industry in North-Western Russia. The environmental impact of waste storage facilities of the pulp and paper mill was assessed, the need for utilization of lignin sludge was justified. In North-Western Russia, 1.21 million hectares of disturbed areas are in need for reclamation; they are abandoned quarries and lands alienated for pipeline and road construction. The suitability of lignin sludge for preparation of artificial fertile soils for reclamation purposes is estimated. For this purpose, experiments were carried out to create an artificial mixture with different ratios of lignin sludge and soil, to detect the maldevelopment of several plant species grown on various compositions of lignin sludge and soils. It was revealed that lignin sludge as an organic additive to soils is not toxic to vegetation and living organisms, allowing improving fertility of artificial soils.
Approaches for assessing atmospheric conditions in megacities are proposed using an example of St. Petersburg. An article provides results of field observations on atmospheric air quality conducted with a mobile laboratory of Saint-Petersburg Mining University. Temporal distribution was analysed for concentrations of key pollutants: oxides of nitrogen, ammonia, and carbon; sulphur dioxide; hydrogen sulphide; methane; total hydrocarbons. The given framework for interpreting the data on atmospheric monitoring exploits spatial distribution of pollutant concentrations. The proposed ways for solving the problem of atmospheric pollution in certain megacity districts are based on geographic information systems allowing modelling widespread air contamination.
The paper provides an assessment of environmental impact made by the companies producing and transporting hydrocarbons in Western Siberia. Dynamics of perennial observations over the environment components in the area where hydrocarbon producing and transporting companies operate have been analyzed and justifications provided for a need in the optimal system for environmental air monitoring at the facilities under examination. Dispersion of air pollutants has been simulated using a licensed software ECOLOG (version 3.00), developed by “INTEGRAL” scientific production association. Based on simulation results the list of priority pollutants has been compiled. A method has been developed to determine the quantity of and optimal locations for fixed environmental moni- toring stations with account of emission parameters, and approaches have been proposed to creation of a system for operational environmental monitoring based on geoinformation software.
The assessment of existing technologies for storage and utilization of domestic solid waste in Russia and other countries is conducted. The regions of landfill sites for household waste disposal are investigated. The results of field observations of the quality of air, surface water and ground-water are given. The method of effective isolation of a landfill surface using polymer materials is proposed. The technological process of landfill surface covering with the help of a selfpropelled screening machine is described. This method allows organizing centralized biogas utilization from landfills, improves the environmental situation in the regions of their location, reduces air pollution and practically eliminates spontaneous combustion of waste.
The results of monitoring and evaluating the negative impact caused by waste storage (technogenic deposits) of the mineral resource sector are presented. The research findings on the development of environmentally sound and costeffective ways of technogenic deposits conservation are given. The method is based on the formation of screens made of polymeric materials sintered with soil. As a result of laboratory studies and experiments on test sites the optimal technology of the screen formation was selected.
The least utilized recyclable wastes from mining and processing enterprises are dispersed wastes, which are in the form of dust captured by systems of gas purification. This dust is a technogenic raw material for the production of zinc and other metals. Various ways of utilizing the steelmaking dust are presented. For utilization of the steel-making dust, a hydrometallurgical method with the use of autoclave technologies is proposed. The results of experiments in sulfate autoclave leaching are described.
In this paper deals with the problem of pollution of oil-contaminated wastewater. A method of treatment which increases the quality of recyclable waste water, by improving existing production systems using Reagent-free method.
Researches of a condition of reservoirs of the Kovdor area showed that one of actual problems is pollution of a surface water by compounds of manganese. In this regard in work questions of a manganese origin in water objects and features of behavior of this element depending on changing conditions of the environment are considered.
In paper results of environmental monitoring of components of the environment, the placement carried out in the territory of the tailing dump of apatite-nepheline concentrating factory are presented, results of the carried-out natural measurements are given and the assessment of the technogenic loading rendered by experimental object on an ecosystem of this region is given.
Discharge of inadequately treated waste water of mining and processing enterprises leads to the formation of technogenic sediments, which are a large source of secondary pollution of water bodies. In the present paper we propose a possible way of disposal of sediments to prevent additional technogenic load.
As a result of undertaken studies the innovative system of monitoring of atmospheric air, based on the use of the modern systems of measuring, set on pilotless flying vehicles, is worked out, allow to decide actual tasks on the quickly deployed systems of the ecological monitoring after the state of environment. The choice of effective methods of realization of monitoring researches is produced on territories of mining agglomerations. The use of pilotless aircrafts gives an unique opportunity of combination of the controlled from distance and pin methods of monitoring researches, that allows to work with materials various on scales, permission, geometrical and spectral properties and here to get quantitative and quality descriptions of the state of components of natural environment with the complete list of the controlled parameters for the detailed analysis of ecological situation in the districts of mining agglomerations.
As a result of theoretical researches and experimental researches in Mining University development and introduction of monitoring complex are conducted on the base of pilotless aircrafts with a maximally possible actual load for productive ecological control and automatic stream information transfer more than from 10 channels simultaneously to the surface station of management, equipped by the special software. Drawing on this monitoring complex will allow to conduct zoning of mining industrial aglomeration taking into account the worked out classification of degree technogenic loading.
Existing methods of water treatment do not provide the required quality of water injected into formation. Everywhere in the fields is observed gradual effect ions reduce oil output. The reasons can be a lot of both technological and geological. One of the main- is injected is not enough pure water, which causes mudding pores, channels and cracks.
Joint Stock Company «Apatit» is the world’s largest producer of phosphate raw materials for the production of mineral fertilizers. The processing of ore and obtaining of apatite and nepheline concentrates are carried out at the ore treatment factory ANOF-2. Nowadays there is an acute problem of additional wastewater treatment in concert with the presence of nitrites, fluorides, phosphates, aluminum and molybdenum in flows the concentrations of which exceed the established standards. Using the fine cleaning filters, the filter material of which is made of synthetic fibers, the quantity of waste substances dropped into the water can be reduced. The using of such filter system will allow decreasing the damage to the environment and reducing the enterprise payouts for the discharge of pollutants.
Nowadays Kemerovo Region is known to be under active mining, which is one of the main sources of negative impact to the environment. In this paper environmental issue caused by coal mining and coal processing which are priority industries in the region are considered. Results of analytical studies of waste obtained from leading Russian coal producer and possible ways of their utilization are presented in the paper as well.
The paper deal with the problem of developing a rational technology of slime and silt recycling for company «Kinef», which nowadays is one of the leading companies in Russia in it area. There-fore the question of soil-waste utilization is one of the major issues to adress for this organisation. During the reaserch samples of soil waste were taken and analyised, which helped to work out a complite technology of recycling. The technology of processing based on methods «wet chemistry» and hydrometallurgical processes. Special attention is paid to the necessity of extraction of the useful components.
This paper discusses a method for assessing the ecological risk of production of the fuel and energy complex, to identify key assumptions and sources of failures that can lead to accidents or emergencies.
Refineries are among the most dangerous man-made sources of pollution. As a result of their productive activities are changing all the components of the environment, particularly air quality of surface waters. This paper assesses the impact of refineries at commissioning processes of deeper conversion of oil.
The usage of cyanide solutions in technology heap leaching causes, both direct and indirect effect on the environmental components. Existing methods of heap leaching fields isolation do not provide the necessary degree of decreasing of infiltration processes. One of the main reasons is the usage of sutural technology with using geosynthetics are characterized by a number of disadvantages.
The paper presents result of monitoring toxic technogenic massifs of the OJSC «Mikhaolovskiy GOK» Company and the LLC «Severonickel» Company. Their technogenic influence on various environmental components is assessed. New reliable environmentally-safe and economically efficient ways of technogenic massif reclamation are suggested based on formation of protective screens made of polymer materials sintered with the massif rocks. An optimal screen formation technology is selected as the result of research carried out in test areas.
One of the largest environmental problems of the oil industry in Russia is drilling waste contamination, that has negative impact on the living conditions of the people, animals and plants. Drill return sumps are pits on the territory of drilling sites, filled with drilling waste. The problem of drill return sumps recultivation can be solved using the local tree crops and drilling wastage skillfully employed as growth-stimulating substance alongside with drill return sumps amelioration. This gives us a possibility of developing of a conceptually new scientific and methodical base of forest recultivation on the disturbed lands.
A system of industrial environmental monitoring (IEM) for the «Gazprom Company» is offered. The ARCGis information and measuring system is offered to be used as the IEM programming support which helps to carry out real time acquisition of data on the condition of the bodies monitored, data processing and analysis as well as distribution of monitoring result among various subdivisions of the enterprise. It was established that one of the most rational approaches to create the IEM system is introduction of the interpretation module of satellite images, taken in various spectral ranges and characterized with high spatial resolution characteristics.
Рассмотрен новый метод оценки экологической опасности производственных объектов минерально-сырьевого комплекса (МСК), вызывающих загрязнение земельных и водных ресурсов, а также атмосферного воздуха. Разработка метода оценки экологической опасности, основанного на определении эколого-экономического риска воздействия предприятий МСК на природную среду, является весьма актуальной проблемой, так как позволяет предотвратить или снизить негативное влияние опасных производственных объектов МСК путем целенаправленного выбора средозащитных мероприятий, а также комплекса мероприятий по оздоровлению и рекультивации нарушенных земель для проектируемых и действующих предприятий.
Measures aimed at ensuring environmental safety of technogenic formations are analyzed. Various solutions to the problem of reducing environmental risks for technogenic formations of different genesis, as well as for extensive and heterogeneous technogenic massifs are proposed. The classification of ways to reduce the ecological risk of technogenic massifs is given. The main groups of environmental protection and rehabilitation methods for the zone of influence of technogenic formations are singled out, for example, isolation of the array, decontamination of technogenic sediments, relocation of sediments. The most effective rehabilitation measures for technogenic massifs of different genesis, shape, volume and class of ecological hazard are established.
Russian and foreign models of environmental safety management at various industrial facilities are analyzed. It is established that either individual or social risks of human mortality are taken as hazard indicators, or expert assessment of potential risks is carried out without quantitative economic evaluation. Technogenic arrays are classified by degree of ecological hazard on the basis of modeled results of total costs of environmentally safe waste disposal depending on the degree of their ecological hazard. For each class of arrays the optimal strategy of ecological safety management is developed.
The main sources of environmental disturbance and pollution in the areas of operation of hazardous facilities of the oil and gas complex were identified and classified. The peculiarities of negative impact were studied at all stages of operations: during field exploration; during field development; during oil and gas production; during processing of gas and oil products.
The main sources of acidic water formation are industrial effluents, slag dump effluents and gas emissions containing nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide. Taking into account hypergenic and erosion processes, it is necessary to increase the hazard class of these wastes. The results of laboratory analyses of waste samples causing negative acid impact are presented.
This work is focused on creating a technological option for joint processing of BOF, blast furnace and open-hearth dusts with subsequent involvement of semi-products in the main production of Severstal and similar enterprises.
Factors and sources of environmental hazards of technogenic massifs are analyzed. Particular attention is paid to the mechanism of environmental hazards in the storage of waste mining and metallurgical production. The spectrum of pollutants of technogenic massifs by types of industries that form them is revealed. The classification of chemical substances contained in the wastes of mining and metallurgical production, the classes of danger. Analysis of pollution hazard factors in the areas of technogenic massifs location has been carried out: physical state, waste properties, mobility of pollution, structures of protective constructions.
The analysis of technogenic impact of waste of mineral complex on atmospheric air and land was carried out. It was established that the environmental and economic risk of negative impact is determined by the probability of environmental and economic damage. The probability of damage from land pollution in the zone of impact of technogenic massifs was analyzed. The research work was supported by the American Foundation for Civilian Research and Development.
To date, the total amount of rock mass displaced on the planet exceeds 100 billion tons. The result of such impact is the formation of man-made massifs - geological structures, composed of rocks or sediments of anthropogenic genesis, which differ in their composition (chemical, granulometric, bacteriological) and properties (physical, mechanical, filtration, sorption, etc.) from the host rocks. Shapes and sizes of man-made massifs are determined mainly by technological processes. In areas of sulfide-containing technogenic massifs, due to waste in an oxidizing environment, the formation of acidic drainage water occurs, the processes of formation of which are complex and nonstationary, which greatly complicates the monitoring of the state of the massifs. Development and application of a new method of acid-alkaline balance, consisting in determining and comparing the acid potential and neutralization potential, formed by rock or waste, allows with high expressiveness and accuracy to monitor the situation in areas of sulfide-bearing man-made massifs, significantly reduces the time for laboratory research.
The technogenic load of enterprises of mining and mining and processing industries causing pollution of land and water resources and atmospheric air is assessed. Mining enterprises account for up to 80 percent of the volume of stockpiled wastes of all production complexes. Development of methods to assess the risk of impact of technogenic arrays on the environment is a very urgent problem, since it allows preventing or reducing the negative impact of technogenic arrays by targeted selection of the type and design of storage facilities for projected and existing enterprises, development of a set of measures to improve and rehabilitate disturbed lands. The analysis of landscape-geochemical situation formed under the influence of intensive technogenic load in the areas of waste storing was carried out, the processes of formation of halos and pollution flows were studied; the method of ecological hazard assessment of technogenic massifs was created, the method of economically expedient and safe storing of waste was developed.
Mining and mining-processing enterprises are one of the most intensive sources of environmental pollution by solid wastes, which make up more than 90% of the volume of mined mineral raw materials. The result of such impact is the formation of technogenic massifs. Comparative analysis of the results of monitoring of technogenic massifs has allowed us to identify a number of regularities of their impact on the natural environment: The technogenic array is a lithochemical halo of pollution; The result of dust and gas emission from the surface of the anthropogenic massif is the formation of atmochemical and redeposited lithochemical pollution halos, pollution of vegetation and near-surface sediments; Temporary and permanent flows from the anthropogenic massif carry out and re-deposited rocks, which causes the formation of hydro- and lithochemical pollution flows; Infiltration of natural waters through technogenic sediments leads to the formation of hydrogeochemical halos and pollution flows.
An assessment of the man-caused impact of mining and mineral processing enterprises on the soil and water reservoirs, the atmosphere and, as a consequence, an increase in the morbidity of the population is given. The greatest pollution and disturbance of the environment is associated with the storage sites of solid and liquid waste, which occupy more than 120 hectares in the Russian Federation. The problem of creating a classification of waste storage facilities, their thorough characterization and environmental risk assessment is very pressing. Solving this problem will help to prevent or reduce environmental impact of storage places by means of justified choice of type and design of waste storage for projectable enterprises and development of a package plan for environmental sanitation and reclamation of the territories under the impact. It will also help to cut down construction, operation and environmental expenses. Implementation of land reform requires strengthening state supervision of land and water use and conservation based on large-scale implementation of modern means of monitoring land and water conditions, as well as development of environmentally safe norms and requirements for land and water use. The results of the development and implementation of new methods of rapid assessment of the impact of solid waste on land and water reservoirs are presented. A new complete classification of technogenic tracts, based on the principle of their formation, their multivariate impact on the environment and methodological approach to the ecological and economic risk assessment of the impact of technogenic tracts on the environment is given.
