Records |
Author |
Liu, Z.; Li, C.; Tan, K.; Li, Y.; Tan, W.; Li, X.; Zhang, C.; Meng, S.; Liu, L. |
Title |
Study of natural attenuation after acid in situ leaching of uranium mines using isotope fractionation and geochemical data |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2023 |
Publication |
Science of The Total Environment |
Abbreviated Journal |
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Volume |
865 |
Issue |
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Pages |
161033 |
Keywords |
Acid in situ leaching, Geochemical and isotopic tracing, Groundwater contamination, Natural attenuation, Uranium post-mining |
Abstract |
Acid in situ leaching (AISL) is a subsurface mining approach suitable for low-grade ores which does not generate tailings, and has been adopted widely in uranium mining. However, this technique causes an extremely high concentration of contaminants at post-mining sites and in the surroundings soon after the mining ceases. As a potential AISL remediation strategy, natural attenuation has not been studied in detail. To address this problem, groundwater collected from 26 wells located within, adjacent, upgradient, and downgradient of a post-mining site were chosen to analyze the fate of U(VI), SO42−, δ34S, and δ238U, to reveal the main mechanisms governing the migration and attenuation of the dominant contaminants and the spatio-temporal evolutions of contaminants in the confined aquifer of the post-mining site. The δ238U values vary from −0.07 ‰ to 0.09 ‰ in the post-mining site and from −1.43 ‰ to 0.03 ‰ around the post-mining site. The δ34S values were found to vary from 3.3 ‰ to 6.2 ‰ in the post-mining site and from 6.0 ‰ to 11.0 ‰ around the post-mining site. Detailed analysis suggests that there are large differences between the range of isotopic composition variation and the range of pollutants concentration distribution, and the estimated Rayleigh isotope fractionation factor is 0.9994–0.9997 for uranium and 1.0032–1.0061 for sulfur. The isotope ratio of uranium and sulfur can be used to deduce the migration history of the contaminants and the irreversibility of the natural attenuation process in the anoxic confined aquifer. Combining the isotopic fractionation data for U and S with the concentrations of uranium and sulfate improved the accuracy of understanding of reducing conditions along the flow path. The study also indicated that as long as the geological conditions are favorable for redox reactions, natural attenuation could be used as a cost-effective remediation scheme. |
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0048-9697 |
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THL @ christoph.kuells @ liu_study_2023 |
Serial |
155 |
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Author |
Li, X.; Shen, K.; Li, Q.; Deng, Y.; Zhu, P.; Wang, D. |
Title |
Roll-over behavior in current-voltage curve introduced by an energy barrier at the front contact in thin film CdTe solar cell |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2018 |
Publication |
Solar Energy |
Abbreviated Journal |
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Volume |
165 |
Issue |
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Pages |
27-34 |
Keywords |
AlO HRT layer, Band alignment, CdTe solar cell, Roll-over behavior |
Abstract |
Roll-over phenomenon in the current–voltage (J–V) curve is often observed in a CdTe thin film solar cell. The roll-over phenomenon, which is occurred near the open-circuit voltage in a light J–V curve, is due to Schottky energy barrier formed at the CdTe/metal interface in a CdTe solar cell back contact. In this study we report a J–V roll-over phenomenon which is induced by an energy barrier at the front contact of a CdTe solar cell. Two kinds of oxides, namely, Al2O3 and SnO2, were deposited as high-resistance transparent (HRT) layer between the window layer CdS and the fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) front electrode in CdTe solar cells. These two oxides present much different electronic band alignment with FTO and CdS. SnO2 formed almost no energy barrier with CdS, this allowed smooth transport for photo-generated electrons from CdTe to CdS and FTO. However, Al2O3 formed a high energy barrier with CdS. The rather high energy barrier with a value of 3.43 eV at the CdS/Al2O3 interface induced a J–V roll-over phenomenon in a CdTe thin film solar cell, which dramatically led to a quick decrease for the cell device efficiency. The electron transport at the FTO/Al2O3/CdS interface is governed by tunneling effect. The results presented in this study demonstrate that the band structure at the front electrode plays an important role for the performance of a CdTe thin film solar cell. |
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0038-092x |
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THL @ christoph.kuells @ li_roll-over_2018 |
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187 |
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Author |
Wang, B.; Luo, Y.; Liu, J.-hui; Li, X.; Zheng, Z.-hong; Chen, Q.-qian; Li, L.-yao; Wu, H.; Fan, Q.-ren |
Title |
Ion migration in in-situ leaching (ISL) of uranium: Field trial and reactive transport modelling |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2022 |
Publication |
Journal of Hydrology |
Abbreviated Journal |
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Volume |
615 |
Issue |
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Pages |
128634 |
Keywords |
Acid in situ leaching, Banyan-Uul uranium deposit, Influence area, Reactive transport, Sensitivity analysis |
Abstract |
Acid in-situ leaching (ISL) can be used as a mining technique for in situ uranium recover from underground. Acids and oxidants as lixiviants were continuously injected into a sandstone-type uranium deposit in Bayan-Uul (China). It was conducted to facilitate the dissolution of uranium minerals to generate uranyl ions, which could then be extracted for the recovery of uranium resources by the pumping cycle. A reactive transport model based on PHAST was developed to investigate the dynamic reactive migration process of uranium. The simulated results well reproduce the fluid dynamic evolution in the injecting and pumping units, as well as the dynamic release of uranium. The simulated leaching area indicates that the uranium ore leaching area was much larger than the acidification area. In addition, the pollution plume of uranium and acid water was larger than that of the leaching area, which can be used as a reference for uranium mining schemes. Furthermore, the parameter sensitivity analysis indicates the volume fraction of uranium ore and the reaction rate were the main factors affecting uranium leaching efficiency. Without considering the blockage of pores by precipitation, the Fe2+ in the reinjection fluid had a significant negative influence on uranium leaching. |
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0022-1694 |
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THL @ christoph.kuells @ wang_ion_2022 |
Serial |
195 |
Permanent link to this record |
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Author |
Wang, B.; Luo, Y.; Qian, J.-zhong; Liu, J.-hui; Li, X.; Zhang, Y.-hong; Chen, Q.-qian; Li, L.-yao; Liang, D.-ye; Huang, J. |
Title |
Machine learning–based optimal design of the in-situ leaching process parameter (ISLPP) for the acid in-situ leaching of uranium |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2023 |
Publication |
Journal of Hydrology |
Abbreviated Journal |
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Volume |
626 |
Issue |
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Pages |
130234 |
Keywords |
In-situ leaching, Injection rate design, Lixiviant concentration design, Machine learning, Simulation-optimisation, Uncertainty |
Abstract |
The migration process of leached uranium in the in-situ leaching of uranium is considered a typical reactive transport problem. During this process, the lixiviant concentration and injection rate are important in-situ leaching process parameters (ISLPP) to efficiently recover uranium. However, several uncertain factors affect the outcomes of the ISLPP design. In addition, the repeated use of the reactive transport model (RTM) for investigating the acid in-situ leaching of uranium with the application of the Monte Carlo method leads to a substantial computational load. For this reason, a machine learning (ML)–based surrogate model was developed with the backpropagation neural network (BPNN) method to replace the RTM under the condition of uncertain parameters. Moreover, the simulated annealing optimisation model for ISLPP was created based on the proposed surrogate model. The optimal ISLPP was achieved that generated maximum profits from uranium recovery under different lixiviant prices, uranium prices and exploitation times. The optimal design framework of ISLPP based on the proposed ML algorithm was then applied in the Bayan-Uul sandstone-type uranium deposit in Inner Mongolia, China. From our analysis, it was demonstrated that the ML-based surrogate model exhibited great fitness with the RTM. The optimal results of the ISLPP indicated that the lixiviant concentration and injection rate could be adjusted based on the fluctuations in lixiviant price, uranium price and exploitation time. If the prices of sulphuric acid were high, a specific concentration of hydrogen peroxide could be injected into the injection well to promote the oxidation and dissolution of the uranium ore to increase the income from the uranium recovery. The optimisation model can also use the ISLPP scheme to boost the revenues from different lixiviant prices, uranium prices and exploitation times under the uncertainty of porosity, illustrating the applicability of the ML-based optimal design method of ISLPP in ISL mining. A general framework for developing surrogate models, as well as for conducting uncertainty analyses for a wide range of groundwater models was proposed here yielding valuable insights. |
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0022-1694 |
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THL @ christoph.kuells @ wang_machine_2023 |
Serial |
210 |
Permanent link to this record |
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Author |
Zhao, Y.; Li, X.; Lei, L.; Chen, L.; Luo, Z. |
Title |
Permeability evolution mechanism and the optimum permeability determination of uranium leaching from low-permeability sandstone treated with low-frequency vibration |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2023 |
Publication |
Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering |
Abbreviated Journal |
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Volume |
15 |
Issue |
10 |
Pages |
2597-2610 |
Keywords |
Chemical reactive rate, Low-frequency vibration, Low-permeability sandstone, Optimum permeability, Permeability evolution mechanism, Uranium migration |
Abstract |
Low-frequency vibrations can effectively improve natural sandstone permeability, and higher vibration frequency is associated with larger permeability. However, the optimum permeability and permeability evolution mechanism for uranium leaching and the relationship between permeability and the change of chemical reactive rate affecting uranium leaching have not been determined. To solve the above problems, in this study, identical homogeneous sandstone samples were selected to simulate low-permeability sandstone; a permeability evolution model considering the combined action of vibration stress, pore water pressure, water flow impact force, and chemical erosion was established; and vibration leaching experiments were performed to test the model accuracy. Both the permeability and chemical reactions were found to simultaneously restrict U6+ leaching, and the vibration treatment increased the permeability, causing the U6+ leaching reaction to no longer be diffusion-constrained but to be primarily controlled by the reaction rate. Changes of the model calculation parameters were further analyzed to determine the permeability evolution mechanism under the influence of vibration and chemical erosion, to prove the correctness of the mechanism according to the experimental results, and to develop a new method for determining the optimum permeability in uranium leaching. The uranium leaching was found to primarily follow a process consisting of (1) a permeability control stage, (2) achieving the optimum permeability, (3) a chemical reactive rate control stage, and (4) a channel flow stage. The resolution of these problems is of great significance for facilitating the application and promotion of low-frequency vibration in the CO2 + O2 leaching process. |
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1674-7755 |
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Call Number ![sorted by Call Number field, ascending order (up)](img/sort_asc.gif) |
THL @ christoph.kuells @ zhao_permeability_2023 |
Serial |
198 |
Permanent link to this record |