In view of the permanent increase of the municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) residues amount,
the numerous attempts to find a way of their recovery have been undertaken. In this paper the idea of the
recovery of the MSWI residues in Kłodawa salt mine is presented. The idea is to fill the waste in underground
workings, close and/or backfill the underground excavations with self-solidifying mixture prepared
on the basis of MSWI grained solid residues. Two techniques are proposed: 1) hydraulic backfill technique
(HBT) where the mixture is prepared in the surface installation and pumped down into the underground
workings through shaft and the pipelines and 2) dry waste technique (DWT), where dry grained waste is
dropped into the mine by pneumatic pipeline transport, then supplied to the underground mixture-preparing-
installation and pumped as a thin liquid or paste into the selected workings. The description of the
technology is preceded by general characteristic of the hardening backfill in underground mines and by
characteristic of MSWI residues, drafted on the basis of the literature review.
Increasing environmental pressure against waste disposal, particularly fine waste surface storage and concern about mining damages have resulted in an increase in the popularity of a fly ash, tailing and binding agent mixture used as compaction grout of roof fall rocks in a gob area of longwalls. Backfilling of voids forming as a result of exploitation with the fall of roof with mixtures containing fine-grained industrial wastes is a common practice in coal mines. It is aimed at achieving numerous technological and ecological advantages as well as at controlling mining hazards. Research on hydraulic transport of fine-grained slurry conducted to date focused mainly on issues related to the analysis of the conditions related to pipeline transportation. The processes concerning the propagation of mixtures within the gob, on the other hand, remain largely unknown. The process of flow of fine-grained slurry through the caving is subject to a series of factors related, among other things, with the properties of the applied wastes and mixtures, the characteristics of the gob as well as the variability of these properties during the flow through the gob and in time. Due to the lack of sufficient knowledge pertaining to the changes taking place in the gob and in the slurry while it penetrates the gobs, no methods allowing for the design and optimization of the gob grouting process have been established so far. The paper presents the selected results of laboratory tests regarding the flow of ash and water mixtures in a model of a gob, pertaining to two selected types of fly ash produced in hard coal combustion, particularly concerning the impact of the type of the ash and the density of the slurry on the effectiveness of the gob grouting process.
Based on laboratory tests of selected properties of secondary waste (ashes and dusts) from municipal waste incineration plants, the possibility of recovering some properties of waste in the process of filling the post-mining voids in the salt mine was assessed. The furnace bottom ash and the waste from the flue gas treatment from one of the national incineration plants were examined. The grain curves of dry waste and the density of the prepared mixtures were characterized. Twelve variants of the compositions of ash-based mixtures with varying proportions of the individual components were considered, taking into account both fresh water and brine. For each variant of the composition, the amount of redundant liquid appeared as well as the time of solidifying of the mixture to a certain strength and the compressibility values obtained. Considering the possibility of transporting mixtures in mines by means of pipelines at relatively long distances, and allowing the filling of large salt chambers to be filled and evenly filled, flow parameters were determined. In addition, the permeability of solidified waste samples was investigated, showing the potential for reducing the strength of the waste mass due to the action of water or brine. The technical feasibility of eliminating redundant liquid in the binding process has been confirmed, which is particularly important in salt mines. Preliminary values for the amount of binder (5%÷10%) to be added to the mixtures to obtain the specified strength properties of the artificially formed mass at Rc = 0.5 MPa. Attention was paid to the important practical aspect resulting from the rapid increase of this type of waste in the comming years in Poland and at the same time vast potential for their use in salt mining, where we have a huge capacity of salt chambers available.
The safe environmental disposal of sulphide-rich copper/zine mine tailings is fast becoming a major economic factor in determining the profitability of mining operations. There have been new approaches and better technologies practised in the recent years which allow the mining industries to reduce and/or eliminate the environmental impacts of harmful mine tailings. One of these approaches is the use of high-density paste backfill (HDPB) which is consisting mainly of a mix of solid particles (with the cement) and water, containing between 70% and 85% by dry weight of solids. The increased use of HDPB has improved the reliability, and has reduced the cost of the preparation and transportation systems. This paper focuses on the potential environmental benefits of using the HDPB when tailings are acid generating, and also provides a case study conducted in an underground copper/zinc mine in northeast Turkey in order to illustrate these benefits.