Hydrodynamic Simulation of the Influence of Injection Flowrate Regulation on In-Situ Leaching Range

Zhang, Chong; Xie, Tingting; Tan, Kaixuan; Yao, Yingming; Wang, Yaan; Li, Chunguang; Li, Yongmei; Zhang, Ying; Wang, Hui

doi:10.3390/min12070787

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…The arrival time is about the 37th, 89th, 230th, and 1318th day of the simulation, which shows that plan A can control the inflow of natural groundwater faster, so plan A can reduce the impact of the solution in the flow field at the mining area on natural groundwater faster. This is consistent with the viewpoint of Zhang et al [35], who proposed that "small flow injection at the periphery of the well-site" can effectively control the leaching range of the flow field in in situ leaching mining. This results from the fact that the pumping or injection capacity of each borehole is different when the strata in the study area are heterogeneous; the drilling technology is different.…”

Section: The Flow Quantity Of Injection Wellssupporting

confidence: 91%

“…They divided the periods of the in situ leaching flow field by the groundwater influence ratio of each pumping well. Xu et al [31], Ji et al [32], Cao et al [33], Li et al [34], and Zhang et al [35] put forward a method for regulating the flow rate ratio of pumping and injection wells to control the solution outflow in the flow field of in situ leaching mining and carried out related calculations in different mining areas, respectively.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Analysis of Natural Groundwater Flowing into the Flow Field of In Situ Leaching Mining

Xie

et al. 2023

Processes

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This paper aims to quantitatively analyze the influence of natural groundwater flowing into the flow field of in situ leaching mining. The computational method was built to evaluate the effect of natural groundwater on the production efficiency of pumping wells for the in situ leaching of uranium, and the “flow ratio of groundwater” and related formulas were defined. C1 and C2 mining areas of an in situ leaching uranium mine in Inner Mongolia were taken as an example, and the effect on the “flow ratio of groundwater” when changing the flow quantity of injection wells and the position and length of the filter in the pumping and injection wells were compared. The results show that the variation in the “flow ratio of groundwater” of a whole mining area or a single pumping well in different production stages can be obtained by the neutral solution concentration value from the mining area’s numerical simulation. Regulating the position, length of the filter, and mode of fluid injection in an in situ leaching mine can control the quantity of natural groundwater flowing into the mining area and reduce the fluid exchange between the flow field of in situ leaching uranium mining and natural groundwater.

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Section: The Flow Quantity Of Injection Wellssupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of Natural Groundwater Flowing into the Flow Field of In Situ Leaching Mining

Xie

et al. 2023

Processes

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“…Based on the actual production data of a sandstone uranium mine, a unit flow model of the ISL uranium mining area using the groundwater modeling system (GMS) is established [8]. And then a scheme is proposed and a hydrodynamic model established of the leaching range under eight different pumping and injection conditions by using the GMS [9]. However, in this research, the hydrogeochemical reaction is not sufficiently considered.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study on Numerical Simulation of Reactive-Transport of Groundwater Pollutants Caused by Acid Leaching of Uranium: A Case Study in Bayan-Uul Area, Northern China

Li,

Tang,

Xiang

2024

Water

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Acid in situ leaching (ISL) is a common approach to the recovery of uranium in the subsurface. In acid ISL, there are numerous of chemical reactions among the injected sulfuric acid, groundwater, and porous media containing ore layers. A substantial amount of radioactive elements including U, Ra, Rn, as well as conventional elements like K, Na, and Ca, and trace elements such as As, Cd, and Pb, are released into the groundwater. Thus, in acid ISL, understanding the transport and reactions of these substances and managing pollution control is crucial. In this study, a three-dimensional reactive transport modeling (RTM) using TOUGHREACT was built to investigate the dynamic reactive migration process of UO22+, H+, and SO42− at a typical uranium mine of Bayan-Uul. The model considering the partial penetration through wellbore in confined aquifer and complex chemical reactions among main minerals like uranium, K-feldspar, calcite, dolomite, anhydrite, gypsum, iron minerals, clay minerals, and other secondary minerals. The results show that after mining for one year, from the injection well to the extraction well, the spatial distribution of uranium volume fraction does not consistently increase or decrease, but it decreases initially and then increases. After mining for one year, the concentration front of UO22+ is about 20 m outside the mining area, the high concentration zone is mainly inside the mining area. The concentration front of H+ is no more than 50 m. SO42− is the index with the highest concentration among the three indexes, the concentration front of SO42− is no more than 100 m. The concentration breakthrough curve of the observation well 10 m from the mining area indicates that the concentrations of the three indicators began to significantly rise approximately after mining 0.05 years, reached the maximum value after mining 0.08 to 0.1 years, and then stabilized. The parameter sensitivity of absolute permeability and specific surface area of minerals shows that the concentration of H+ and SO42− is positively correlated with absolute permeability. The concentration of H+ is negatively correlated with the specific surface area of calcite, anhydrite, K-feldspar, gypsum, hematite, and dolomite. The concentration of SO42− is positively correlated with the specific surface area of K-feldspar and Hematite, and negatively correlated with the specific surface area of calcite, anhydrite, gypsum, and dolomite. The influence analysis of pumping ratio and non-uniform injection ratio shows that the non-uniform injection scheme has a more significant impact on pollution control. The water table, streamline, capture envelope, and the concentration breakthrough curve of five schemes with different pumping ratios and non-uniform injection ratio were obtained. The water table characteristics of five schemes shown that increase in the pumping ratio and the non-uniform injection ratio, the water table convex near the outer injection well is weakened and the groundwater depression cone near the pumping well is strengthened. This characteristic of water table exerts a notable retarding influence on the migration of pollutants from the mining area to the outside. For the scheme with a pumping ratio is 0 (the total pumping flow rate is equal to the total injection flow rate) and a non-uniform injection ratio is 0 (the flow rate of inner injection well Q1,Q2,Q3 is equal to the flow rate of outer injection well Q4,Q5,Q6), the streamline characteristics shown that a segment of the streamline of is diverging from inner region to the outer region. For other schemes, the streamline exhibits a convergent feature. It is indicated that by increasing the pumping ratio and non-uniform injection ratio, a closure flow field can be established, confining the groundwater pollutants resulting from mining within the capture envelope. Hence, the best scheme for preventing pollution migration is the scheme with a pumping ratio is 0 (the total pumping flow rate is equal to the total injection flow rate) and a non-uniform injection ratio is 0.1 (the flow rate of inner injection well Q1,Q2,Q3 is 10% more than the flow rate of outer injection well Q4,Q5,Q6). In this scheme, the optimal stable concentration of UO22+, H+, and SO42− at the observation well obtained by RTM is lower than other schemes, and the values are 0.00316 mol/kg, 2.792 (pH), and 0.0952 mol/kg. The inner well injection rate is 194.09 m3/d, the outer well injection rate is 158.89 m3/d, and the pumping rate is 264.00 m3/d. Numerical simulation analysis suggests that a scheme with a larger non-uniform injection ratio is more conducive to the formation of a strong hydraulic capture zone, thereby controlling the migration of pollutants in the acid ISL. A reasonable suggestion is to adopt non-uniform injection mining mode in acid ISL.

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Integrated surrogate framework for reactive transport simulation of uranium in situ leaching with generative models

Ji,

Luo,

Wang

et al. 2024

Journal of Hydrology

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Hydrodynamic Simulation of the Influence of Injection Flowrate Regulation on In-Situ Leaching Range

Cited by 7 publications

References 12 publications

Analysis of Natural Groundwater Flowing into the Flow Field of In Situ Leaching Mining

Analysis of Natural Groundwater Flowing into the Flow Field of In Situ Leaching Mining

Study on Numerical Simulation of Reactive-Transport of Groundwater Pollutants Caused by Acid Leaching of Uranium: A Case Study in Bayan-Uul Area, Northern China

Integrated surrogate framework for reactive transport simulation of uranium in situ leaching with generative models

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