Sorption characteristics of the soil from the waste rock sites in the Kolubara lignite Basin, west S

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Sorption characteristics of the soil from the
waste rock sites in the Kolubara lignite Basin,
west Serbia
The 4th International environmental conference

• Dragana Grujicic
• Ilija Brceski
• Milica Kasanin-Grubin
• Bozidar Gecic
• Ivana Popovic

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Kolubara lignite basin
60 km southwest from Belgrade, Serbia Occupies
600 square kilometers Estimated lignite reserves
2.2 billion tones Produces 70 of lignite in
Serbia
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Kolubara lignite basin
90 of lignite is used in thermal plants 17
billion kWh per year Produces 60 mill m³ of
barren earth and rocks per year
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planned waste rock deposition site
Deposition site

• Total of 9 drill holes from 3 different
  localities within planned waste rock deposition
  site
• Depth of drill holes up to 5m
• Sand and gravel with low clay contents
• Groundwater found on aprox. depth of 1.25m

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Drill hole sites
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Virgin Soil analysis
Concentrations of heavy metals and mineral oils
were compared to Serbian legal norms and Dutch
list The concentration of heavy metals in soil
is generally lower than the maximum allowed by
the both regulations Ni was slightly higher
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GROUNDWATER ANALYSIS
Concentration of heavy metals and mineral oils
in groundwater mg/l
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SORPTION ANALYSIS
Soil on the planned waste rock disposal site is
not contaminated but has high porosity
Assumption is that it is not suitable for a
landfill site To determine this, we conducted
solid-solution sorption analyses of the same
virgin soil samples we used for previous analyses
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SORPTION ANALYSIS
Represented with sorption characteristics of 8
heavy metals and mineral oils Soil samples were
treated in controlled lab conditions with
standard solutions of heavy metals whose
concentrations were 20, 40 and 60 times higher
than maximum allowed After settling, suspensions
were filtrated and concentrations of heavy metals
were measured in filtrate and treated soil
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SORPTION ANALYSIS
As
Cd
Cr
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SORPTION ANALYSIS
Cu
Hg
Pb
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SORPTION ANALYSIS
Ni
Zn
Mineral oils
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Conclusion / recommendations

• Selected location is not suitable for the new
  landfill
• Topography and geology of the region indicate
  that another location is not available
• Special environmental measures needed

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Thank you!