Natural Zeolites of Eastern Transbaikalia in Technologies for Mining Enterprises Wastewater Treatment

Abstract

The possibilities of conditioning acidified wastewater from mining enterprises by natural zeolites of deposits in East Transbaikalia were studied. Sorption characteristics of various natural and synthetic zeolites in relation to strontium and cesium radionuclides were determined to evaluate the possibility of their application for the purification of radioactively contaminated technogenic and natural waters. The ability of natural zeolites to selectively adsorb the heavy metal ions was investigated. An experimental study was made on the possibility of neutralizing acidic media with zeolites. The kinetic dependencies were obtained to evaluate the ion exchange rate on the natural zeolites. The impact of exchanging cations and the defining mineral’s structure on the exchange rate was studied. The instantaneous adsorption interaction rate values were determined. The possibility of ⁹⁰Sr and Ca²⁺ ions sorption from the simulated solutions of industrial wastewater was investigated.